Phantom Pains
by Extreme Light 9
Summary: The war is over. Infinite is left wandering the ruined world, not knowing where to go while trying to escape the authorities. Set after Sonic Forces.
1. What Remained

**Chapter 1 – What Remained**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, it's been years since I wrote a Sonic fic, but after playing Sonic Forces I wanted to write about Infinite because I feel there is so much potential in his character.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Sonic series.**

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He opened his eyes to a blinding light. He hissed and looked away as it began to sting his eyes. He was laying on a table of some sort and could hear voices speaking over him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. His vision was blurry and his thoughts were muddled.

He tried to sit up, but he found himself too weak to stand up. He felt completely drained and drowsy for some reason. It wasn't long until the numbness in his body slowly subsided and he felt it. An intense pain pulsing in his chest and he gasped, curling up on himself and clutching it.

Everything hurt. He gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut as the pain continued coursing through his body. He was struggling to breathe. He felt as if his skin was on fire. There was more movement around him and someone was yelling, but it all sounded so far away. He tried to will the pain away, but it won't stop!

He lay there for a while, eyes closed as he tried to focus on something other than the pulsing in his chest. He slowly glanced over at the person towering over him. The doctor. His brows were furrowed in confusion and slight alarm.

"Wha…what's happening to me?" he managed to gasp out through gritted teeth. His hearing slowly seemed to come back as the sounds of monitors and peeping machines reached his ears.

"It's seems we haven't taken into account the possible negative side effects of the Ruby being connected to an organic life form," Eggman answered, rubbing his head in frustration. His plan was just beginning and something was already going wrong! "We'll have to remove it right away and maybe try it on a robot-"

"NO!" He growled at the man. "I…I can handle this. I'll walk it off," He forced himself to sit up and winced in pain, digging his claws into the hard wood. No, no! He wasn't going to back down now. He wasn't going to let _**anything**_ hold him back. If this will give him the power he wanted then he would accept whatever came with it.

Gritting his teeth, he turned to sit on the edge of the table and hopped off. His legs shook and he swayed a little before quickly reaching for the table's side to steady himself.

The doctor looked uncertain at this, but fortunately he didn't protest. "Fine, but I'll still need to do some check-ups on you to make sure everything is alright."

Body trembling, he held his hand over his chest and the gem. It glowed and he winced.

 _It's going to be worth it. This pain is nothing._

 **XXXXXXXX**

Somewhere in the mountains, a single figure was dashing through the dark forest, moving through the shadows swiftly.

Infinite finally stopped behind a tree to catch his breath. He peeked behind the tree at the lights flashing in the dark. They were clearly not planning on giving up.

Scowling, he turned around and began running again, hoping to lose them in the trees. He ran as fast as he could down the path and jumped over a log, his eyes searching for a place for him to hide in.

Just then, as soon as he stepped into a clearing a bright light flashed before him and made him shield his eyes.

"Don't move!" the man growled. They were two men, one pointing the flashlight in his direction while the other was pointing the end of a tranquilizer gun at him. They both had the letters G.U.N on their vests.

Infinite tensed up and bared his teeth behind his mask.

"It's over. There is nowhere you could run!" The man muttered and glanced at his partner. "Shoot him now!

Infinite glanced at the other human who flinched under his gaze. He was afraid, Infinite could tell. It made him smirk in satisfaction, seeing people still cower in fear before him.

The agent scowled. "What are you waiting for, I said shoot him!"

The other grimaced. "B-but…what if…what if he…"

"Don't worry about that. Shadow said he lost all of his powers. He can't do anything anymore," the agent scoffed.

That hit a nerve with the jackal and he clutched his fists angrily. They…they don't see him as a threat. They think he's powerless now without Eggman and the Ruby. They….they…..

"Hey, don't you dare underestimate me!" He snarled and immediately charged at them. The humans were too startled by this to react in time. The one with the gun tried shooting at him, but he evaded the dart and it missed his shoulder by an inch.

Infinite didn't give him the chance to shoot again as he lunged at him and kicked his weapon away before knocking him out with a swift punch to the jaw. He then turned to the other agent who attempted to draw out a weapon, but the mercenary gave him no time as he leapt into the air and took him down as well.

Infinite stood there for a moment, panting. There was a time when he could have taken out his enemies without breaking a sweat, _effortlessly_. Unconsciously, he reached over his chest where the gem should be, but all there was just a scar.

He felt no power, just pain.

By the time the other agents showed up, all they found were the two unconscious men in the clearing and a trail of tracks that disappeared in the trees.

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 **A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!**


	2. Wanted

**Chapter 2 – Wanted**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for all the positive feedback. I really appreciate it!**

 **XXXXXXXX**

 **Before**

Infinite sighed as he lay on his bed in his room, testing his new powers. He formed a glowing red cube in the air and began moving it around the air in slight boredom. The doctor had warned him not to push himself too much since he didn't have full control of the gem's powers yet.

 _Nonsense!_ Infinite thought with huff. Shouldn't he working on making himself stronger? How would playing around with this powers help him in any way?

He held both his hands out and made the cube grow larger. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his chest and he gasped, clutching his chest. The cube vanished immediately. He curled up on himself as the Ruby glowed a violent red.

 _Not again._ Infinite growled and screwed his eyes shut. He was at least glad that nobody was around to see him like this. The last thing he needed was to give the doctor more reasons to think of him as unfit for this.

Opening his eyes, he saw an eerie red hue wash over the room and his surroundings began to warp and flicker.

He closed his eyes again and threw his hand over the bed sheet, digging his claws into it as he tried to get his powers under control.

 _Come on, this is nothing. Fight it_. He repeated the mantra over and over in his head. _It's going to hurt if I let it. This doesn't hurt, this doesn't hurt!_

Little by little, the searing pain slowly faded and the jackal was left panting on his bed, feeling drained.

He didn't know how long he just lay there recovering, but soon someone knocked on his door. Panicking, Infinite quickly sat up and took a deep breath, hoping they wouldn't notice how shaky he looked.

"What?" he asked gruffly, wincing at how hoarse his voice was.

"Your dinner is ready!" The voice of the red robot came from the other side.

Sighing, Infinite sat up and began making his way to the door.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 **Now**

Infinite slowly opened his eyes and let out a quiet yawn. Last night he found a small cave in the forest and decided to stay in it for the night.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he reached over for his mask and put it back on. He then stood up and began making his way to the exit, but not before making sure that nobody was waiting for him outside.

When his nose didn't pick up any odd scents, he stepped outside and stretched up. It was still quite early. Morning mist shrouded the pine forest and the sun hasn't risen yet.

Scratching the back of his head, Infinite sat down by the cave entrance.

 _What now?_ He thought grimly as he gazed around. He had been running away for a while without knowing where to go. Those agents managed to find a way to track him down no matter where he went and didn't seem willing to rest until he was behind bars.

He picked up a rock and tossed it into the air a few time before flinging at away. The first thing he should focus on is getting back at the doctor. There was no way he was going to let that slime ball get away with what he did to him. Then Sonic and the others will follow next!

Just then, he grimaced at the rumbling sound coming from his stomach. It's been a while since had an actual meal after all. Groaning, he sat up and began walking down the path again, hoping to find something to eat.

For several minutes he found nothing and the sun slowly peeked through over the mountain. Just when he was getting frustrated, a new smell hit his nose. Sniffing the air for a moment, he began following it until he reached the edge of the forest and saw something up ahead. It was a village.

Infinite tilted his to the side, wondering if it was a good idea to head into a populated area especially with the authorities still looking for him, but his stomach made another nagging sound. He groaned in defeat.

Well, this shouldn't be a problem. He was a master of stealth after all. He could just sneak in and grab a bite to eat, maybe some supplies and then leave before anyone realized he was there.

With that in mind, the jackal headed to the town and was quick to hide in the shadows. He could hear people chattering happily as they went about their day. As he moved through the shade, he saw several houses at the process of being repaired. One human was pushing a wagon filled with broken robotic parts. Eggman's forces must have reached this village as well though it didn't seem to have suffered too much damage.

Snapping out of his thoughts, his eyes searched the area until he spotted a bread stand nearby. He moved as stealthily as possible, the stand mere inches away from him. All he had to do was reach out when the Mobian wasn't looking and take as much as he could-

"Thanks, I'll just put this right here…." The Mobian took a crate from a human and came over to place it in beside the stand only to freeze up as something akin to a face gazed back him from the shadows.

The two stared at each other for what felt like forever until a familiar look of absolute terror spread across his face.

When he opened his mouth to scream, Infinite quickly threw his hand over it to silence him, but the dog jerked away from his grasp and fell on his backside screaming at the top of his lungs. "I-It's… _IT's HIM!_

And that's when it happened.

Everyone around only got a glimpse of him in the shadows before loud shrieks filled the air. The once peaceful village became filled with terrified cries as people ran in every direction in fear.

Infinite gritted his teeth and quickly dashed away, knowing that the authorities will show up at any minute now.

He flinched away when something zipped past his ear and hit a wall. Glancing back, he saw three people aiming at him. As much as it stung his pride, he knew he had to get out of here as fast possible.

Wasting no time, he jumped into the air only to land on the ground again. _Stupid! I can't fly anymore!_ Infinite thought, wanting to kick himself. Running towards a house, he leapt up to the roof as more shots flew past him. One managed to clip his arm and he gasped out in pain, but he continued sprinting over the roof and jumped to another.

He kept that up until he reached the edge of the village and jumped down, dashing towards the trees. The jackal hoped they wouldn't come after him there.

He stopped running after a while and sighed in relief at having escaped. He then wined at the stinging pain in his arm as droplets of blood dripped down from his cut. He needed to get this fixed and get out of here, fast.

This had been pointless. He went there looking for food and came out with nothing but an injury. Glaring back at the village once more where panicked shouts can still be heard, Infinite turned around, ready to leave.

Just then, a strange sound reached his ears. Blinking, he glanced around, trying to see where it was coming from. It was like static. It went on for a moment before stopping all together. _What was that?_ He thought as he gazed around the area, but there was nothing there except trees.

 _Maybe I'm just tired._ He decided it was probably that. He had been on the run for almost a week and barely rested.

The jackal could hear the sound of a helicopter approaching and quickly began limping away.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!**


	3. Lingering Imprint

**Chapter 3 – Lingering Imprint**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time since I wrote a new chapter for this and I'm very sorry for that. You see, when I first began writing this fic, I had a certain direction I wanted to go with it, but after thinking about it for a while I realized the direction I originally planned for this wasn't great.**

 **Since I didn't have any alternate ideas back then, I decided to put the story on hold until I thought of something better for it. I think am now ready to continue.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Infinite retreated as far as he can from the village, following the path he came from. He eventually stopped by a lake to clean the graze on his arm. He hissed in pain as he washed the blood off, but he knew this won't be enough. He had to get this treated as soon as possible or else it'll get infected.

He looked around the area until his sensitive nose picked up on something: Smoke. He followed the smell until he found a house. There was an old man chopping wood with an axe near the porch.

Eyes narrowing, Infinite spotted an open window and began sneaking toward it quietly. Slipping inside, he gazed around the old house. _There has to be something here I can use._

He made his way through the house until he found the bathroom. He stepped in and searched every spot he can. He soon found what he was looking for: A first-aid kit. He closed the door behind him and began treating his injury as best as he can. This wasn't the first time he got an injury like this considering his old job as a mercenary.

Just then, Infinite's ears picked up the sound of someone opening the entrance door. The old man was back.

The human whipped the sweat off his forehead as he and was about to go to the kitchen for a drink when he suddenly heard a ruckus in the bathroom. "Hello?" He warily walked toward the bathroom door and threw it open, but he found it empty.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

Jumping from one tree to another, Infinite made his way through the thick forest, having slipped through the bathroom window just in time. He began to wonder where to go next. He had been planning on getting back at Eggman, but he wasn't nearly strong enough at the moment to go after the scientist. He tried to think of a place to hide in where he can't be found in.

Suddenly, his ears picked up a new sound and he jumped down just as an arrow struck the tree bark. "Who did that?" he muttered, sharp eyes scanning the area.

"Ah, I nearly had him," someone murmured.

"Show yourself!" the jackal growled. A moment passed before three crows came of hiding above on the branches. They almost looked identical if it weren't for some small differences in their facial features and age. The one who fired the arrow looked to be a teen from what he can see. Infinite further scanned them and realized something.

 _This is odd. They don't look like they are from G.U.N._

"So, you must the infamous _Infinite_ ," the first one asked with a raspy voice.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Infinite asked back, raising a brow.

"If you must know, my two friends and I are bounty hunters. We are here for the bounty on your head,"

Infinite blinked. "What? What are you talking about?"

The second crow laughed while the third young one remained quiet, steely gaze never leaving the jackal. "In short, you ticked off many powerful people around the world after destroying much of what they owned and now they're offering millions to whomever hunts you down and brings you to them,"

"Not necessarily alive," the first one added.

Great, so now the government _AND_ countless bounty hunters from the all over the world were coming after him. Infinite would have felt flattered if the circumstances were any different.

"You three are going to be disappointed to know that I'm not about to hand myself over to you," Infinite stated, baring his teeth at them.

"Well, that's too bad because we're not planning on going back empty-handed after coming this far," the second crow grinned and turned to the first. "Whaddya say, boss?"

The crow glared down at Infinite solemnly and then muttered. "Get him,"

Immediately, the archer aimed at the jackal while the other two took out their daggers and jumped down the tree.

The moment they touched the ground, they dashed toward him, blades glinting in the light. Infinite pulled back just as the leader slashed at him and he kicked him away, but he didn't have time to relax as the other lunged at him with his own blade.

A swift arrow cut through the air and nearly got Infinite's shoulder. He gritted his teeth. That archer's shots were too precise, too accurate. He barely got away every time. One wrong move next time and the arrow won't miss. He needed to take him down first before dealing with these two.

Pulling away from the fight, Infinite grabbed a rock from the ground and took off to the trees.

"Hey, where are you running?" The second crow taunted. Wasting no time, Infinite jumped from the branch he was standing on to the tree where the archer was.

Just as he was about to fire again, the jackal caught him off guard by throwing the rock at his hand, causing him to drop his bow. Infinite knocked him off the tree quickly, sending him falling into the bushes.

 _Now I can take care of those two._ He thought, gazing down at the two who were glaring at him.

"Come down here!" the second crow growled.

"As you wish," Infinite readied his claws before swiftly diving down and landing in front of the stunned bounty hunter, slashing at him with his claw and knocking him away with a powerful punch to the gut.

The crow leader came from behind the jackal and swung his blade, cutting off several strands of his mane and then attempting to thrust it into his chest.

Infinite side-stepped just in time and slammed his elbow on the back of the bird's head, knocking him cold instantly.

For a moment Infinite stood there, panting. His fur was messy and he was annoyed when he touched his ruined mane, but other than shallow cuts he was fine.

He glanced down at the fallen birds and decided to take whatever supplies they had on them. He took the leader's green hooded cape along with his dagger. He then searched the remaining two, but sadly other than a small bar, none of the three had food with them. He found a money pouch and some rope though.

But Infinite knew he couldn't leave them like this. They will come back for him if he did. He gathered their remaining weapons and quickly disposed of them. He then cut off the rope into three pieces and used them to tie together their hands.

Giving the crow trio one last glance, the jackal disappeared into the trees.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 _How long is this going to go on?_ Infinite watched from underneath the tree as the rain continued pouring down. Sighing, he took out the dagger and examined it. It wasn't as good the red sword he once had, but well enough for him to use.

As the jackal waited there, his mind began drifting back to those crows. The way they acted around each other, it reminded Infinite a little of his pack.

" _What were you thinking back there? I told you stay behind!" Infinite huffed, crossing his arms._

 _The young jackal flinched and his ears fell. "I'm sorry, boss. I just wanted to prove myself,"_

He gritted his teeth and his scowl deepened.

" _Well done, boys. Let's head home and celebrate!" Infinite exclaimed, grinning after completing their mission. His companions cheered around him._

His grip on the dagger tightened.

 _A jackal was standing on the edge of a cliff, alone. There were bandages covering certain places in his body. He was clutching a red sword in his hand tightly and with a loud growl, he flung it down into the abyss before walking away._

Those cowards. Why was he even thinking about them? They all left him behind and ran away. Why should he care what happened to them? It's not like they did.

The dagger suddenly fell out of his hand as the noise in his ears returned, and along with it came the pain. He clutched his head, feeling the dull ache throbbing behind his temple. He had been having these migraines often lately, but he couldn't figure out why. He tried to convince himself that it was just exhaustion and stress. He's constantly on the run after all.

It was then that he remembered something. Their old hideout. Before working with Eggman, they had a place of their own far in the mountains. He will be safe in there and no one will find him.

Despite the pain in his head, Infinite found himself grinning for the first time in a while.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Meanwhile in Station Square, Tails was tinkering with one of his devices when he heard someone walking down the staircase. He looked over to see Sonic heading for the door.

"Sonic? Where are you going? I thought you said you'll be off to bed," the kitsune asked.

"Oh, I just want to go out of a stroll. Help me relax a bit, you know?" he flashed a small grin. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it,"

Tails laughed. "Okay, have fun,"

With that, Sonic opened the door and slipped outside into the night air, his smile dropping immediately after closing the door.

Giving a heavy sigh, he began running through the city. His eyes scanned the ruined houses and buildings. He eventually stopped by a bus stop sign.

He glanced around the area and noticed a broken robot lying on the ground. It must have been forgotten here. He walked over to the broken thing and stared at it blankly.

Everyone was doing their best to fix the damage the war had left on their city and move on from what happened, but helping the world heal wasn't as easy as he imagined.

He lightly kicked the robot's head with his foot, but the thing remained motionless.

Sighing, he pushed the memories to the back of his mind and was ready to head off again when a loud scream reached his ears. Wasting no time, he ran as fast he could to where the sound came and gasped.

A woman was pushed against a wall by a giant tarantula.

 _Where did that thing come from!?_ Sonic thought in disgust, but didn't hesitate to take action. He rushed toward the creature and jumped over its back, provoking it. That was enough to get the spider's attention away from the woman who quickly fled.

"Alright, pal. I'm gonna kick you back to wherever it is you came from," Sonic smirked as the beast pounced. He quickly moved out of the way to avoid its mandibles and did a spin attack, sending the monster tumbling over the pavement.

Sonic walked over to get a better look at it, but then stopped when something strange began happening. A red hue covered the creature briefly before it dissolved into red pixels, leaving no trance that it had been actually there.

"What?!" Sonic stared at the empty space in disbelief. No. It can't be. How….?

Sonic looked around and then spotted something. A glowing figure was standing over a light pole for a moment before disappearing too.

"No way…." Sonic took an uncertain step back and then quickly dashed down the street.

 **XXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. It feels great coming back to write this. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**


	4. Imminent

**Chapter 4 – Imminent**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, thank you so much for all the positive feedback. I really appreciate it.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **XXXXXXXXX**

"Are you sure?" Knuckles asked. Sonic had immediately got both of his friends after the incident and told them everything. The three were now sitting in the living room.

"Guys, I know what I saw," Sonic sighed, sitting down on a chair. "I fought that thing. I've seen it disappear after I took it down,"

"But…how is that possible? We destroyed all the Phantom Ruby prototypes," Tails stated, scratching his head in confusion.

"Clearly not all of them," Knuckles grumbled, sitting on a chair backwards. "Did you see who casted that illusion?"

"No," Sonic said, shaking his head.

Tails crossed his arms in thought. "Well, it wouldn't make sense for it to be Eggman's doing since he's not exactly the most…subtle person around," he stated. The scientist had the tendency to put his face on nearly all his creations after all. "If he managed to get his hands on another Phantom Ruby, he'll probably be cooking up a new scheme and gloating to us about it instead of attacking someone like that,"

"That only leaves _him_ ," Knuckles said grimly.

"Hey, we don't know that for sure, Knux," Sonic replied.

The echidna rolled his eyes at him. "Come on, who else could it be? He liked spreading fear, remember?" he huffed. "So, what do we do now?"

"I say we gather the rest of the resistance and tell them about this," Tails said.

Knuckles grimaced. "Yeah…how about we don't do that,"

Tails gaped at him. "What? Knuckles, this isn't something we should be keeping to ourselves!"

"Why don't the three of us just deal with it? You know, like old times," the echidna offered with a grin, pounding his fists together. When Tails threw him a look, he sighed. "Look, everyone is still recovering from what happened, Tails. Imagine how they'll react if we told them this. I don't want them to freak out,"

The guardian turned to his blue friend. "Back me up here, Sonic,"

The hedgehog, who had been quiet for most of their argument, finally spoke up. "Sorry, Knux, but Tails is right. Everyone needs to know about this,"

Knuckles sighed in defeat and pulled out the walkie-talkie. "Alright, fine,"

In the next morning, all the members of the resistance showed up at their headquarters. Knuckles tensely stood in front of everyone and cleared his throat.

"Everyone, I'm…I'm afraid I have some bad news. We've discovered that Infinite might have returned,"

They all gasped and stared at him in shock before bombarding the echidna with questions.

"What? How?!"

"Who told you that?"

"Is he going to attack again?!"

"Calm down!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Look, we don't know for sure at the moment. Sonic saved someone from an illusionary monster yesterday. We already ruled out for it to be Eggman since it's not like him to do something like that so it only leaves the other person who used that power before,"

The Mobians turned to each other, murmuring worriedly about the chance of another war happening. Knuckles exchanged nervous glances with his two friends.

"That would explain a lot though," Vector said suddenly, getting everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

Espio sighed and explained. "We were planning on telling you this when we got here. Just earlier today, something strange happened. We were passing by a reconstruction site when all the people there started fighting,"

Tails frowned. "But why?"

"We don't know. They just started attacking each other for no reason. We had to step in and break the fight. Once they eventually calmed down, they didn't know what came over them," the chameleon finished and the room fell quiet.

"That's….disturbing," Sonic said, knowing how much of an understatement that was.

Knuckles then noticed Rouge walking away at the corner of his eye and snapped out of it. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" he growled.

"Easy there, Knucky. I'm just gonna go tell the boys at G.U.N about this. They're looking for Infinite after all. If he really did regain his powers then they need to be warned," Rouge said.

Knuckles faltered. "Okay, you do that," he huffed.

"So….what's the plan now," Silver asked.

Knuckles paused as everyone eyed him expectantly. This was one of the reasons he didn't like being a leader. When he was first asked this, he found the request to be absurd. He always preferred to work alone, with the exception of Sonic and Tails sometimes, but with the world at stake and his two friends gone, he had taken on that role for everyone's sake.

He sighed and scratched his head in thought. "Well, the best thing we can do now is to keep an eye out. We still don't fully know what's going on and we need to be careful. If you see anything suspicious then report back immediately, alright?"

Everyone in the room nodded their affirmation though they still looked uncertain.

Sonic meanwhile was looking down, eyes distant. A sliver mask flashed in his mind and he grimaced, shaking the thought away. _How can it be him though?_

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Infinite was making his way through the forest. He suddenly stopped to gaze around for a minute and then sighed.

He finally had a destination in mind, but he had no idea which way to go. He had been so busy trying to escape his pursuers to the point where he no longer knew where he was. He looked up at the sky wistfully. _If only I could still fly._ He thought and absently walked forward only to feel himself step on a wire. "Huh?"

Immediately, a swift sound cut through the air and Infinite quickly rolled out of the way just as two wooden stakes nearly impaled him. The jackal sat there, panting for breath.

Standing up, he walked over and knelt down to examine the trap, quickly realizing that it was put here recently.

He began heading east, keeping all of his senses on high alert. Someone put that trap there and they were expecting him to come in that direction. He looked up at the pine trees around and knew he couldn't use them to escape if he needed to.

The sound of firing in the distance caused the jackal to start sprinting as fast as he could through the thick forest. In his haste to get away, his foot got caught into something and he cried out as he was lifted up into the air.

Hanging upside down, the jackal deadpanned. _Seriously?_

He couldn't believe he had stepped into a trap a second time! He really needed to get himself together. He took out his dagger and began swinging back and forth to build up momentum.

In that same moment, a bullet blew through the tree bark close to his back. Panicking, the jackal finally managed to throw himself up and grabbed onto the rope, cutting it instantly.

The second he landed on the ground, he quickly went to hide behind the tree as another bullet hit the spot he had been lying on. Infinite remained there as his pursuer made several more holes in the tree. He waited for the right moment and then quickly left his hiding spot when the firing ceased.

He knew he only had a few moments before his pursuer reloaded, wherever they were. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins as the sound of bullets flying through the air rang in his ears.

 _Oh no._ Infinite grimaced when the end of the tree line was in sight. Once the trees were gone, he'll be vulnerable, but there was nowhere for him to hide here either.

Blinded by the light momentarily, the jackal found himself in a grassy field. An idea came to him and he rushed into it. The grass was long enough for him to hide in. He quickly pulled his hood up to cover his head and crouched down.

He then listened quietly. The sound of footsteps soon reached his ears. He looked through the grass blades and saw a human coming out of the forest. He had a thick beard and was wearing dark shades. A musket was held tightly in his hands as his eyes scanned the field.

Suddenly, the man began firing haphazardly at the field.

 _He's trying to draw me out_. Infinite realized, gritting his teeth. He needed to stay still and not show himself to-

A wave of pain suddenly washed over his chest and the jackal nearly cried out. He covered his mouth with one hand while the other remained clutching his chest. _Not now. Not now!_ He curled up on himself and screwed his eyes shut as the pain continued flaring in his chest. He mustn't make a sound. He will be discovered if he did!

Cracking an eye open, his heart skipped a beat when the end of gun pointed in his direction, but thankfully it didn't linger and moved away. He nearly sighed in relief and gave away his location.

The hunter soon gave up and turned around to leave. Infinite sat there for a few minutes before deeming it safe to move. He quietly sneaked through the thick grass until he made out to the other side.

The jackal continued making his way down the mountain and eventually found something, a road. There were cracks and holes it, obviously not made by vehicles. He narrowed his eyes and saw one of Eggman's giant robots in the distance. The broken mass of metal lay dauntingly in the valley below, moss growing over it. A battle must have taken place here some time ago.

Frowning, Infinite looked around before deciding to follow the old road. After walking for a while, he came across an abandoned gas station.

He raised a brow and walked toward it, feeling a bit uneasy with how quiet it was. He stared beyond the dirty glass of a convenience store window and decided to go inside when he saw no one there.

He struggled with the door for a moment before it finally budged and he stepped inside. Everything was covered in a layer of dust. Gazing about, Infinite grabbed a package from one of the isles and tossed it away immediately in repulsion when he saw the food inside was moldy.

It was clear nobody had been here in a long time, but then again many places were abandoned when the war began.

Sighing, the jackal went far into the store and sat behind one of the isles, closing his eyes and slowly drifting off. At least he found somewhere safe for now.

Elsewhere meanwhile, three figures stopped near the edge of a forest.

" _This is where he has been last sighted. Be careful out there. I'm counting on you,"_

"Understood," Shadow said and the commander hung up. He then turned to Rouge and Omega. "Let's go,"

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading.**


	5. In Pursuit

**Chapter 5 – In Pursuit**

 **A/N: Hi everyone, I'm glad I managed to get this chapter out sooner than the previous one especially since I'm back to college again. I hope you enjoy it!**

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Infinite's eyes snapped open as his ears picked up on the sound of a door opening. The echo of footsteps made him sit up quietly. His sensitive ears let him know how many people they were. _Two._

"When was the last time someone came here?" one of them said, sounding annoyed.

"Shut up. Now is not the time to complain. We were ordered to search every nook in this area," another gruff voice replied.

Infinite dared to peek behind the shelf and caught sight of a familiar uniform. His eyes narrowed. _Great, more G.U.N agents._ One of them was blonde while the other had brown hair and a beard.

He tensed up when they began inspecting the store with their flashlights. He remained crouching and began stealthily making his way around the aisles, never letting himself get spotted.

"I still can't believe they haven't caught that punk yet," the blonde one stated as he looked through some boxes.

"He's a slippery one, I'll give him that. Always manages to get away whenever we cornered him," the other agent grumbled.

"Well, _obviously_. He won't stand a chance if he actually tried taking us on,"

Infinite stiffened and his claws came out. _Is that so?_ He growled internally, forgetting about his original plan of sneaking away.

He made his way over to the blonde first and pressed himself against an aisle, waiting in the dark. Once the human got close enough, he pounced.

The other agent meanwhile was searching behind the cash register when he heard his partner cry out and things crashing down on the floor.

"Rick?" he hurried over to find his partner lying on unconscious on the floor, surrounded by random items from the shelves. His uniform had claw marks on it.

Eyes widening, the man quickly took out his gun and flashed his flashlight around. "Come out now. Show yourself!" he growled. He spotted something moving in the shadows and fired, but he didn't hit it. He heard something behind him. Just as he turned his head, a fist collided with his face and sent him falling over his partner.

"You were saying?" Dusting his hands, the jackal smirked in satisfaction and turned around to leave. Once he got out of the store, he noticed the agents' car parked outside. He could use that to escape!

He hurried over and yanked the door open, hopping inside. He got a hold of the driving wheel and looked down to the gas pedal, realizing his foot wouldn't be able to reach it.

Infinite groaned. The car was designed for humans. There was no way he can drive it. He laid his back on the seat and looked at the clock. It said 5 am, so he guessed he slept long enough. He should be heading out again. Glancing around the car in boredom, he noticed a folded piece of paper between the two seats. Snatching it, he unfolded it and realized it was a map.

 _Finally!_ His mismatched eyes quickly began scanning it, tracing the road with his finger. He soon found the gas station and scowled. "It's still a few hours away,"

Even if he tried jumping over trees, it would still take him a while to reach the hideout.

Sighing, he folded the map and put it inside the pouch tied to his waist. Still, it was progress. He had an idea of where he was at the moment. It was only a matter of getting there now.

He hopped off the car and began walking away, but then stopped and looked back to the agents' car. A sly grin suddenly crossed his face and he took out his dagger.

By the time the two agents woke up and got out of the store, they found the jackal had long been gone and their car's tires torn open.

" _That little-"_

 **XXXXXXX**

"Shadow!"

The black hedgehog skid to a halt and turned to Rouge, huffing. "What is it?"

"I hear something. It's coming from that direction," the bat stated, pointing beyond the thick trees.

"Is it our target?" he asked. She shrugged in response.

"Possibly, I can't make it out the voices,"

"Then be on your guard you two," he told them.

"Roger," Omega said, canons coming out of his hands while Rouge nodded tensely.

The three began making their way to where the voices were coming from only to be surprised when they instead found three crows lying on the ground with their hands tied together. They froze up when they noticed the team staring at them.

"Hey, what are you standing there for? Help us out!" one of them yelled.

"Who are you three?" Shadow asked back, ignoring the request.

"…We're travelers. A jackal came and attacked us while we were making our way through the forest," another crow stated and that immediately got the team's attention.

"A jackal you say? Where did he go?" Rouge asked.

"We don't know. He knocked us out and took our belongings," the crow replied. She turned to Shadow.

"That has to be Infinite. We should free them,"

Shadow gave a silent nod and walked over to help her free the three birds.

"Why are you three here anyway?" the same crow asked once they were freed from their binds.

"That's none of your business," Shadow said curtly and began walking away from them, having wasted enough time.

"You're going after him, aren't you?" he pressed further and that got him a sharp glare from the black hedgehog.

"And why are you asking?"

" _Duh,_ so we can tag along. We can help ya!" the second crow said who was starting to get on Shadow's nerves.

"No," was the hedgehog's immediate response.

"We appreciate your enthusiasm, boys, but we can't drag along civilians into this," Rouge added calmly.

"Let us help. We are expert trackers. Finding him will be an easy task for us," the one Shadow by now could tell was the head of the trio stated. "It's the least we can do after you freed us,"

"Besides, we need get back the stuff he stole from us. It's important," the second added and the third crow who had been silent the entire time nodded.

"Well, what do you think, Shadow? Should we let them come along?" Rouge asked with sigh.

The hedgehog rubbed his temples. It seemed like the best course of action if they wanted to catch up to the runaway criminal, no matter how much he hated it. "Fine, but don't slow me down. Got it?" he warned them sharply and the three nodded back.

Shadow couldn't shake the suspicious feeling he got off those three though. It wasn't uncommon to find travelers around these parts of country and with many cities in shambles a lot of civilians had to leave to find homes elsewhere, but he was surprised by their forwardness to help capture the runaway criminal who did this to them. He may have to keep an eye on them while they tagged along.

With that, the hedgehog activated his hover shoes and blasted away with his teammates and the three crows in tow.

 **XXXXXXX**

Infinite had recently reached a valley and was making his way through the tall rocks. He pulled down his hood to block out the harsh glare of the sun. He slowly began recognizing his surroundings.

 _I remember this. The hideout is not far._ He couldn't help the small amount the excitement and relief he felt at the idea of finally being home after being gone for so long. He squeezed through some rocks and continued marching forward.

He managed to get a few feet ahead before he felt a shadow fall over him and he rolled out of the way just in time to see someone stabbing at the ground. A jackal like himself.

He had dark purple eyes and a scar on his shoulder. "Heh, didn't think you would actually dodge that. I don't know how you found this place, but I wouldn't mind more loot," he said with a smirk, pointing his dagger at the pouch tied around his waist.

All the while Infinite was staring at him with wide eyes, gaping. "Flint?!" he muttered, pulling down his hood to reveal his face.

"You?!"

"What are you doing here?" Infinite growled.

The other sputtered. "M- _Me?_ What are _you_ doing here?" he yelled back.

The former mercenary huffed, pulling himself up. "I'm looking for a place to stay in for a while,"

Flint crossed his arms and glared at him. "Well, you're not welcome here since you're no longer our leader. You never came back to us and chose that doctor over our squad,"

Anger flared within Infinite. "That's rich coming from the same cowards who fled and left me alone in the middle of a mission!" he hissed. The reminder of the incident made the other jackal wince and look away.

"We had to. There was no way we could have taken down that hedgehog," Flint explained.

Infinite scowled. "That's no excuse to leave me behind to my injuries!"

Flint looked conflicted for a moment and then sighed in defeat, rubbing the back of his head while grumbling under his breath. "Come with me,"

Infinite watched his former companion walk away and slowly began following him. Honestly, he didn't think he would actually meet someone from his old squad again. It felt surreal to him. Many conflicting emotions ran through him, but bitterness remained dominant among all of them for now.

The two walked through a passageway quietly, neither willing to break the silence between them. Eventually, he did it. "So, are the others there too?"

"Not all of them. Some had gone out hunting. They should be back by sunset," Flint replied. He then glanced back. "Hey…just a heads up; I can't say how everyone will react to seeing you again and-"

"I don't care," Infinite muttered.

Flint sighed, but kept walking. Soon enough, they made it to the hideout. There were houses and huts scattered in an open clearing on the other side of the passageway.

His encounter with the rest of his pack went exactly as he expected. The moment they saw him, he was met with shocked, confused and angry looks from everyone.

"Boss?!"

"What is he doing here?"

"What's going on, Flint? Why are you bringing _him_ in here?" one jackal growled venomously.

"Well, you don't have to worry because I'm not planning to stay for long," Infinite replied, returning the glare. "Nor do I want to,"

Flint stepped between them nervously after sensing the tension in the air and began explaining the situation to the other mercenaries. Infinite blocked him out to observe their surroundings.

Their hideout, his old home hadn't changed at all. He hadn't been here for quite some time ever since they started working with Eggman yet he could still clearly remember training the other mercenaries, celebrating with them outside around a fire while splitting their loot and laying alone on the roof of his hut to gaze at the sky at night. It almost made him feel a little wistful inside.

"Hey,"

Infinite snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Flint who approached him without him noticing. "I managed to convince them to let you stay, but…some aren't really happy about that. They want you to keep your distance from them and will kick you out if you try anything,"

"Sure," he grunted, ignoring the looks he was still getting. After everything he been through, this wasn't all that terrible in comparison.

"Follow me,"

Infinite did just that and was surprised when he ended up in front of an old hut.

"Wait….this is…"

"It's your place," Flint shrugged and let Infinite step inside. It became quite clear to him that everything had been collecting dust for a while.

"Nobody wanted to go in here after you didn't come back and when that war happened….." he trailed off, clearly not wanting to bring up Eggman's masked partner in all of that.

"I'm impressed," he said simply, finding it hard to believe they hadn't messed with his place while he was gone all that time.

"Well, I'll leave you now," Flint said quietly and closed the door behind him.

With nowhere in mind, Infinite began wandering around until he found his old bed. He didn't think about it. Throwing away all the belongings he got on the way, the jackal crashed over the mattress and closed his eyes, letting out a tired sigh. Finally, he made it. Now he just had to hide here until the government and everyone else gave up on finding him.

Just when he was starting to relax, he winced as something flashed in his mind, a face he didn't recognize painted in red hue. Infinite snapped his eyes open and looked around the room, confused. _That was new._ He thought, placing a hand over the scar on his chest where he could feel it still throbbing with pain.

Why was this happening? He knew it had something to do with the Phantom Ruby, but even when he still had it back then nothing like this happened before. Will it get even worse? He didn't want to think about that.

Now that was no longer on the run he will have time to start figuring out what was wrong with him. He needed to find a solution for this and soon.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. By the way, was it ever mentioned somewhere what Infinite's real name is? If it wasn't then would it be okay if give him one? Please let me know.**


	6. Enter the Madness (Part 1)

**Chapter 6 – Enter the Madness (Part 1)**

 **A/N: Hey guys, thanks for all the positive feedback. I appreciate your support.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 _Okay, one more time._ Infinite thought as he stood on top of his roof. He closed his eyes in concentration and held his hand out. He imagined a wooden crate in his mind and tried making it materialize in front of him.

When he opened them, he saw nothing. Sighing, he thought of something simpler. One of the red cubes would do he supposed. He placed his hands on his chest and tried to will it into appearing, but nothing happened again. His surroundings didn't change; the buzzing was nowhere to be heard. Even that usual hot pain flaring in his chest whenever he used his powers was not there. It was just the same dull pain he always felt.

"Hey, what are you doing up there, _Zero_?"

Infinite's ears twitched and he gritted his teeth hard at _that_ name. "None of you business!" he snapped sharply.

"Let's go. Leave that maniac to his loneliness," the other jackal laughed and Infinite wished he could wipe that smirk off his face, but if he tried they will probably kicked him out of the hideout. They were watching his every move after all.

 _What happened to keeping distance?_ Infinite thought, scowling and imagining the other's mane was on fire. When he didn't hear screaming down below, he knew it didn't work. _Oh_ _if only…_

With a sigh, he sat down crossed legged and rested his head on his hands. All these failed attempts simply confirmed his thoughts. He didn't have any of the Phantom Ruby's energy left in him. _Why are these weird things happening to me then?_

It just didn't make any sense to him. A part of him actually wished _Eggman_ was here. No matter how much he wanted to get that traitor for double crossing him, he knew the man could probably use one of his machines to figure out what was wrong with him.

And honestly having some of the Ruby's power right now was something he actually wished was true. It would certainly make his revenge much easier to accomplish.

 _Zero_

That was who he was before he abandoned that life. For years he trained to be the strongest, fought for his place on top of the squad now matter how hard things got and never let anything stand in his way, but in the end…it wasn't enough. He realized he needed more power. He wanted to be a force that was unmatchable in all of Mobias. The Phantom Ruby had granted him that once he obtained it. With it, he had torn through the world, taking down the strongest figures they had. He had been a force of terror. He had been _Infinite_.

But now without his powers, could he still call himself that? After everything he gave up and done, he had fallen even further down than before. Now even his old squad mates didn't show him any respect.

Sighing again, he lay down and stared at the sky before closing his eyes. It wasn't long until he felt a shadow fall over him and he glared up to see Flint standing over him. "What do you want?"

"Just bringing you this. I figured you might be hungry," Flint said reluctantly, holding out a roasted leg.

A great feeling of hunger hit the jackal, but he refrained from letting it show. He slowly took it from him with a barely audible "thanks" before digging his teeth into the meat. He hadn't gotten much food on his journey to this place and it had been so long since he had anything like this. He barely remembered to swallow while he wolfed it down.

Infinite then stiffened when he realized his former teammate was now sitting in front of him. Trying to avert attention from himself, he asked. "So, how was squad doing after I left?"

"Oh, we've been great," he shrugged, but Infinite felt something odd about the way he said it.

Flint then turned to him. "So, can I ask you something?"

Infinite eyed him briefly and then huffed. "Fine, ask away,"

"What exactly is your plan, once you leave I mean, Zero?"

"Haven't decided yet, probably head out into the world again," he lied and then glared at him sideways. "And don't call me that,"

The jackal's brows furrowed in confusion. "What? Why not?"

"I have my reasons,"

"Then what am I supposed to call you," Flint asked, frowning.

Infinite opened his mouth and then closed it, having never actually thought of that. "I….never mind. I won't be staying here for long, so it doesn't matter,"

Flint scowled and looked like he ready to say something when he heard someone calling for him somewhere. "I should go," he said curtly and then jumped down the roof, leaving Infinite alone again.

 _Unbelievable_ , Infinite thought, sighing before deciding he stayed up here long enough.

 **XXXXXXX**

Shadow rushed through the desert, glaring up ahead while leaving a trail of dust behind him. His teammates were almost right behind him while the crow squad were a bit behind. They had left the forest a while now and according to the three, Infinite had gone this way some time ago so they needed to hurry up before he vanished again.

"Hey, could you slow down?!"

Shadow growled and stopped to see the trio catching up to them. "I thought we agreed that you won't slow me down,"

"Well, _sorry_ for running out of breath!" the second crow snapped back, panting.

"I think the boys deserve a break, Shadow," Rouge said.

"You guys keep up with me just fine," Shadow countered.

The bat rolled her eyes. "You forgot that Omega is a robot and I can fly,"

"Fine," He huffed and turned away, staring at some distant hills where the sun will be setting soon. He frowned. Now that he had time to think about it, something really bugged him about this whole ordeal.

If Infinite really did get his powers back then why was he going all this distance on foot? Why not fly? It just didn't add up. He was starting to have doubts if they were indeed following him. Those three better not had sent them on a wild goose chase.

"By the way, you boys got some names, right? I may need to know who I'm working with," he heard Rouge say.

"I don't," Shadow grunted.

The three birds exchanged silent looks and their leader shrugged. "I am Gust," he said.

"Name's Sly," the second one said with a broad grin and placed a hand around the third one's shoulder. "And this little guy is Ash,"

The youngest crow glared at him silently, but then gave a nod to the bat.

Shadow raised a brow at this and then tuned the rest of the conversation out, mulling on their plan to fight and capture the runaway criminal. Taking him on won't be easy, even for him, but they were closer than ever to getting him. They can't back out now.

After they resting long enough, the group continued making their way through the vast desert until they reached the edge of a valley.

"You think he went there?" Rouge asked, peering inside the dark passage ahead.

"Confident," Gust answered.

The cave was getting darker with every passing minute so Omega turned on his lights to shine the way. Shadow walked forward, keeping his eyes peeled for anything suspicious. There was no sign of life or movement within the cave.

"There!" Sly called, stopping them. He bent down and inspected the ground. The rest of the group approached him and saw footprints.

"Hah! What did we tell you?" Sly said, proudly.

"We don't know for sure if they belong to him. It even looks like they were more than one person here," Shadow said.

"Of course, they are. Are you always such a downer, Mr. Hedgehog?" the crow asked, placing a hand on his hip and Shadow glared at him.

"Well, it's the only lead we got right now," Rouge said before the two got into another fight. Shadow broke off the glaring match between them and sighed. _She's right_.

Wasting no time, they continued their trek down the path until they made it to the other side and saw houses not far ahead.

Shadow ignored the smug look he was being given from Sly and turned to his robot teammate. "Omega, can you scan this place for Infinite?"

"Affirmative," Omega said and did as he was told. After a while, he said. "Target found,"

Shadow's eyes widened a fraction and his face hardened. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do. Rouge, you watch us from above and make sure to stay out of sight. Warn us if you see anything. Since it will be hard for Omega to sneak in with me, he will stay behind and create a diversion if necessary,"

"What about us?" Gust asked. Shadow frowned.

"You three will remain here with Omega. You helped us find our target, but it's going to get dangerous in there and we can't endanger civilians,"

Sly looked like ready to protest, but his leader gave him a silent look and he stopped. "Very well," Gust said.

Shadow raised a brow at the lack of resistance from the trio unlike last time, but decided not dwell on it. They had more pressing matters at hand.

Soon, the hedgehog found himself walking slowly in the shadows before teleporting on top of one of the houses and observing the hideout. The place was filled with jackals; some were lying about while others were sparring with each other. There was no sign of the masked criminal anywhere, but then again Shadow wasn't sure if would recognize him without that mask if he was indeed among them.

"Rouge, do you see anything?" he asked her through his communicator. The bat hummed.

"Not yet," she replied. "What if he doesn't show himself?"

"Then we'll start some commotion to draw him out," Shadow answered. She glanced in the distance where he knew Omega and the others were. "Omega, start shooting!" he muttered into his communicator.

"Understood," Omega replied and the sound of firing filled the air. The Mobians below were startled into action and some rushed out with weapons, danergous ones. _Shouldn't be really surprised considering who lives here._

"Okay….but I think I whekwed haheld…jra…."

Shadow blinked and looked at the device in puzzlement as it buzzed with static. "What? Could you repeat that?" he asked, trying to block out the chaos down below in order to listen carefully.

" _I'm….sdjfkdk…saying…..watching…swk…you…"_

What's going on? He couldn't understand a word she was saying, almost as if something was messing with the connection.

Suddenly, Shadow's ears perked up and he ducked just as a dagger flew over his head. He glared at the jackal landing on the roof with him.

"So, it's you who is behind all of this?" the jackal accused and judging by the voice, this wasn't their target. "You're gonna regret coming here!"

Shadow jumped back just as the mercenary flung another blade at him from his long belt. His opponent kept throwing the knives with sharp precision at him, nearly clipping his side. Shadow jumped back onto the wall before dashing toward him. The jackal was about to throw another knife when the hedgehog disappeared in a flicker of pale light.

"Huh-"

Not a second later, Shadow appeared and sent him tumbling away with across the roof with a spin dash. It seemed their fight had attracted more attention than the agent would have hoped as more jackals came after him.

Gritting his teeth, Shadow evaded a slash to his shoulder and knocked his enemy backwards with a punch to the face.

One mercenary pounced from behind him, but, to Shadow's surprise, he was knocked away mid-air by the crow leader.

Gust picked up the fallen jackal's dagger and inspected it briefly. "Not bad,"

"What are you doing here?!" Shadow growled. "I told you to stay behind!"

"Thought you would need a hand," he replied casually as it was no big deal and picked up another blade before running off and jumping down the house. Shadow saw him pass the other blade to Sly and the two crows clashed with the mercenaries, strikes of metal against metal ringing through the air.

He saw on top of another house Ash disarming a mercenary and taking his bow and quiver, wasting no time aiming down below.

Shadow blinked doubtfully at this, wondering once more who these guys were, but he decided to question them later. Right now his main concern should be Infinite. He began making his way over the roofs again, occasionally glancing down to see how the fight was going. Small bombs fell from above and exploded all around, preventing the mercenaries down below from seeing.

Rouge suddenly dropped in front one of them. "Hey there," with a wink, she drove her heeled foot into his chest and knocked him back. Her sensitive immediately picked up onto the movement behind her and jerked away, barely missing a clawed hand aiming at her back.

"You'll pay for that!" he growled and lunged at her again.

Eyes narrowing in the distance, he saw the enemy found Omega and some even grabbed onto his back, stabbing at his armor with their blades. The robot's jets activated and he launched himself into the air in an attempt to get them off.

Shadow gritted his teeth. This was bad. He might have to turn back and help out his teammates. _And Infinite haven't even showed up yet._

He looked around the hideout, wondering where their target was in all of this chaos. Infinite usually made a big show whenever he arrived and wouldn't pass a chance to demonstrate his power.

The agent was about to turn back when a voice reached his ears.

" _Well, if it isn't my old friend, Shadow the Hedgehog,"_

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Infinite had been awoken by the shouting outside. He hurried outside to be hit with sounds of metal clashing and gun firing. Someone was attacking them. He quickly grabbed his dagger and rushed outside, looking around for the source of the commotion.

He saw some jackals running around and he spotted the unmistakable archer crow firing at them from above a house, forcing them to find cover.

 _How did he get here?!_ Infinite thought. He had for sure they wouldn't be coming after him after how their first encounter went down. If he was here then the other two must be as well. He didn't care about his squad after everything they done to him, but if those three bounty hunters came for then he would have to teach them that same lesson again.

He was about to after the crow when him, standing on top of a roof. Shadow.

Infinite's mind went blank for a moment. No way. It couldn't be. How? How did they find him? This place was supposed to be impossible to find! Gritting his teeth, he landed behind the hedgehog and spoke up.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend, Shadow the Hedgehog," he said, smirking.

The hedgehog turned tensely to face him, looking at him searchingly.

Infinite faked a hurt look. "What? Am I that unrecognizable without my mask on?" he said, tracing his own face with his fingers.

Shadow's expression hardened at that and he took a fighting stance. "So this is where you've hiding, Infinite. You're coming back with us,"

The jackal scoffed. "I think I'll pass, but I gotta say, I've been dying for a rematch between us like this," he said, tightening his grip on his dagger. "Just know that your tricks won't work on me anymore. Things are going be different this time,"

 _Infinite was floating in a large testing room. He reached out his hand and conjured a phantom replica of Shadow. It stared at him with lifeless eyes._

" _Attack me," Infinite said._

 _Just as the words left his mouth, the replica acted without hesitation and dashed toward him. He took it down in matter of seconds._

 _He then created another and another. One time he made too and soon they were three. It took him longer to destroy them and they got closer and closer every time to hitting him, but they all went down the same way, bursting into red pixels on the floor and every time Infinite felt the same satisfaction coursing though his body._

He had fought Shadow so many times he knew his every attack, every weakness in his fighting. This time he won't lose. Despite the pounding in his chest, his grip on his weapon never loosened.

Finally, the two lunged at each other. Shadow delivered a kick toward his chest, but Infinite ducked down and went for his leg, but his blade only cut through air as the hedgehog vanished. _Not this time._

The mercenary waited a second before jumping into the air just in time as Shadow appeared right where he had been standing.

Landing on the ground, Infinite charged toward him again.

"Chaos spear!" Golden energy materialized over the hedgehog before shooting forward targeting the jackal.

He leapt to evade one aimed at his feet and managed to slide on the ground just in time to avoid getting the second one in his chest. Without pausing, he pounced at the stunned hedgehog and swung his blade, managing to create a cut on his chest.

Wincing in pain, the agent backed away from him. Infinite tried kicking him, but Shadow grabbed his foot, much to his surprise, and threw him away.

Infinite opened his eyes and rolled out of the way just as Shadow teleported in the air above him and tried crushing him with his heel. The two then continued exchanging blows with each other. Shadow had more power, but Infinite could predict how he would use each of his abilities and evade his attacks. It took some time for the two to finally back away from each other, panting.

Shadow had a several shallow cuts on him while Infinite had a burnt patch of fur on his side and was feeling a bruise blossoming on his cheek.

"Not bad, Shadow, but I'm still not losing to you tonight," Infinite said with a smirk, but Shadow kept eyeing him in confusion almost as if expecting him to do something.

Infinite shook the thought away and prepared for another attack, but then his vision spun a little and an loud echo began coming from everywhere…getting louder and _louder_. "Not…now…." He murmured, wincing from the pain.

His hand found his chest as a hot pain flared within it and his surroundings were bathed in red. The pain was so much worse than any other time and it made his knees buckle. He looked ahead at Shadow who was watching all of this looking lost, and just for a brief moment, Infinite saw a white blurry figure staring down at him in Shadow's place. He was already worn down from the battle, so he couldn't fight the pain for long and his mind blacked out.

 **XXXXXXXX**

Shadow slowly walked over to the unconscious jackal, looking at him in puzzlement. He had no idea what just happened or why he collapsed, but he decided to save the questions for later. They got what they were looking for. He was about to speak into his communicator when he felt someone grab his shoulder and a blade hanging over his neck.

"Thanks for wearing him down, but now we'll take it from here," Gust said as the other two crows showed up too.

"I thought you guys were travelers," Shadow said sarcastically.

Gust ignored the remark. "There is a huge reward for whoever gets him. We came all the way out here for this guy and we're not leaving without him. If you cooperate then we won't have to do anything bad," he explained calmly. "Look, we don't have to settle this with a fight. You want the criminal gone and we want the money, so how about you simply let us take him and be on your way? It's a great deal if you think about it,"

"How about no," Shadow muttered and vanished, much to the birds' surprise. Shadow reappeared behind him and delivered a hard kick to his back, sending him tumbling in the dirt.

"No way you're getting away with that," Sly growled and clutched his blade while Ash aimed at the hedgehog, a second away from firing. With both bounty hunters surrounding him, Shadow exclaimed.

"Chaos Blast!" Shadow's body glowed and violent red energy exploded all around him, sending the two flying several feet backwards.

Panting, he walked over to Infinite again and called for his two teammates through the communicator. When they finally showed up, he saw Rouge had a few bruises on her while Omega was missing some pieces from his armor. The guy will need some repairs when they head back to G.U.N headquarters.

"Where are the jackals?"

"They backed off when Omega started firing his missiles. I'm not sure how long it will take before they decide to come after us again," she then looked behind him and her eyes widened. "Wait, you got him?" she asked, raising a brow. Shadow could understand her confusion.

"I don't know why, but he refrained from using any of his powers, even when I was giving him a hard time during our fight. Maybe he had been recharging before we showed up?"

"Maybe," the bat shrugged and then blinked when she noticed the three crows were unconscious too and lying next to Infinite. "What happened to them?"

"They turned out to be bounty hunters. They wanted us to help them get Infinite," Shadow glared at the unconscious figures, intending on bringing them to HQ to be arrested too.

"I shouldn't be this surprised," Rouge sighed, rubbing her temples. "Let's just hurry,"

Shadow nodded and took out a green Chaos Emerald.

"Stop!" the team looked back to see a jackal charging toward them with a long scar on his shoulder. "Get away from him!"

Shadow frowned and silently raised the emerald up in the air. "Chaos Control,"

A flash of light consumed the agents and his former leader.

"No!" Flint's stride slowed and his shoulders sagged.

They were gone.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. I was given a few suggestions from guys on what Infinite's real name is and I decided on Zero since I like the idea of "Zero becoming Infinite" and the story potential behind it.**


	7. Enter the Madness (Part 2)

**Chapter 7 – Enter the Madness (Part 2)**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the wait. I had to take a break from writing to focus on my exams and studies. I've been under a lot of pressure lately.**

 **To answer a question that I got before, I can't really say how frequent the updates for this fic will be considering that I don't get a lot of free time to write, but I will try to get as much work done on it as possible in the next few weeks.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Infinite didn't know how long he been lying in that dark cell, but he wouldn't surprised if days had already passed. He still couldn't believe it. After everything he done, after crossing all that distance and overcoming all those dangers, they got him. He was their prisoner now.

After interrogating and dragging him from room to another, they left him in a prison cell he never seen before. He wouldn't be surprised if they made it specifically for him. He wanted to thrash and snarl in rage, but his hands were restrained with advanced cuffs that faintly glowed.

" _To keep you from trying anything,"_

" _What do you mean?" he had asked, sitting in his chair in the interrogation room._

" _You already know," the man replied sternly before taking him away down the corridor._

 _What do they think I could possibly do?_ Infinite thought in annoyance. He could understand the prison cell, but why they were making him wear these was beyond him. They weren't even comfortable on his wrists. Scowling, he walked over and kicked the door in frustration, but it remained strong as ever. He wouldn't be able to break it down, especially in the state he was in right now.

Sighing, he leaned against the wall, wincing slightly from the pain shooting in his back. He still hadn't recovered from the fight he had with Shadow at the hideout. His mind then began to wander at the thought of that place. What happened there after he was taken? What were the other jackals were doing while he was trapped here, but he pushed the thought away as far as he could just as fast as it came, knowing fully well they probably didn't care about him.

He instead focused on the predicament he was in right now. How was he supposed to go through with his revenge now that he was locked away in this cell? He didn't even have an escape plan to get him out of here! He gritted his teeth. Just when things were finally going right for him, Shadow and his stupid team ruined everything-

Something flickered in Infinite's vision suddenly and he blinked in surprise, looking around the room, but nothing moved or looked any different than before. "Wha-" he winced as the flickering continued, disorienting him. _W-what's going on?_

Images of places and people flashed in his mind blurred and bathed in red, walking, talking, yelling, followed by an electronic screech, making him curl up on himself in pain. It got so loud that he wished he could cover his ears even though the sounds were all in his head. Among those flashing images, he saw….Sonic…shouting something and attacking him.

Infinite jerked back and snapped out of the trance, panting heavily and looking around the cell in confusion. "What….what's going?" he asked, feeling completely lost. That never happened before. These visions were getting worse and he still had no idea why.

"Still, why did that one feel so…real?" He murmured to himself, but only the silence of the prison answered him.

 **XXXXXXX**

"Sonic, wait up!"

Sonic glanced back to see Tails hurrying to catch up to him. The two were going on a stroll through the city. "You just walked ahead without me," the fox remarked.

"Oh, sorry buddy. I just have some stuff on my mind," he replied. Tails raised a brow and eyed him quietly.

"You've been acting like that for a while now. Is this about what's been happening around the city? You shouldn't worry. Infinite is behind bars right now and nothing out of the ordinary happened so far,"

Sonic knew that, but he wished the feeling at the back of his mind would go away. No matter what everyone told him, no matter what he told _himself_ he couldn't shake the feeling that something was still wrong. He had been happy when the news reached them a week ago, but that didn't last long. Just like when the war ended.

For the sake of not making his little brother worry, he nodded and placed his hands behind his neck, walking over a large crack in the ground. The two came across some construction workers fixing the pavement.

"Hi, Sonic!" one of the men called, waving at him.

"Hey, how's the work going?" Sonic asked, approaching him.

The man smiled. "Pretty great so far! We've fixed a good chunk of the damage in the center of the city. At this rate, everything will be back to normal in no time!"

"That's good to know," Sonic nodded and walked back to Tails to find him looking confused at his phone. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"Oh, nothing. I wanted to call the base to check on everything, but I can't get a hold of Amy or anyone," Tails explained, holding out the phone for him. The hero could hear nothing but static.

Sonic frowned at the device, unsure of what to make of this. "Maybe the thing's busted or something?" he replied. Tails frowned.

"Maybe so. I should get a look at it once we're back," he sighed.

"Race me back?" Sonic smirked.

Tails hummed. "Fine, but be careful not to run into something like last time,"

"Hey! It was one time and it's because I tripped on a piece of rubble, okay?" Sonic muttered with an eye roll and started running, but just as he took off their surroundings flickered red for a brief second before a strong surge blew the air around them, causing Sonic to stumble in his sprint and nearly throwing Tails back. All of the cars and machines were left blaring and flashing madly all around them by it, startling everyone on the street.

"W-What's…what was _that_?!" Tails stammered.

"I…I don't know," Sonic replied, shakily.

And that's when he heard it.

It was faint, the low buzzing in the air. It was one he could not mistake.

"Oh no," Sonic murmured in disbelief. He looked back to Tails who seemed to realize the same thing. "It can't be. They got him-"

The two flinched when a laugh reached their ears and looked around for its source. "Who's there?"

"Up here!" the person called.

The two looked up at a light pole to see a Mobian sitting on top of it. He had clear white fur that went black at the tips of his ears and tail. He wore dark gloves and shoes with red accents, and he had deep red eyes. He was looking down at them lazily.

"Who're you?" Sonic muttered tensely.

The stranger stared at him for a moment and then disappeared in a flicker of light. "Where did he-"

Sonic gasped and jerked back when he found the stranger staring up at him. He looked slightly shorter than Sonic. The stranger then did a bow. "The name's Noise," he then looked up at them with a mischievous grin, revealing sharp teeth. _"It's a pleasure meeting you,"_

He began floating closer to them with one hand behind his back. "I gotta say, this is so much better than messing around from the shadows. I felt it was about time we properly meet. Wouldn't you agree?" he said calmly with his high pitched voice, a faint glow beginning to surround him.

"Wait, that was you?" Tails exclaimed in alarm, but was pulled away in the last second as Noise cut through where they had been standing.

"You ok, buddy?" Sonic asked, eyes never leaving the stranger.

"Y-yeah," Tails replied. Sonic turned to Noise.

"Alright, pal. You're gonna regret showing yourself to us!" the hedgehog muttered and launched himself at Noise who made no attempt to dodge.

Green eyes swiftly scanned his enemy and widened. Wait, there was no…..

Suddenly, the world around Sonic seemed to stutter, once, twice, before he felt a hard kick to his back sending him tumbling away. He was quick to recover and glared at his enemy, trying to hide his shock. _What was that? Infinite never done that before!_

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to attack again?" Noise asked with the same smile, but this time it had an unsettling edge to it.

Gritting his teeth, Sonic curled into a ball and dashed toward him. The moment he got close enough, he released himself and threw a kick at him, but the other flickered out of way. The hero didn't stop throwing one attack after the other, punching and kicking faster and faster, but no matter what he did Noise always slipped away just before they made contact with his body.

"Getting tired, hedgehog?" Noise asked, amusement clear in his voice.

"Not at all," Sonic replied, throwing a punch to his muzzle only for him to completely vanish, reappearing not far from him.

"This is getting rather _dull_ so let me make things a little… **interesting** ," he grinned, voice distorting at the end. He then raised his foot up and brought it down, causing another red flicker in their surroundings.

And everything suddenly lost its weight.

"Whoa!" Sonic panicked as he found himself being pulled into the air along with anything that wasn't bolted to the ground. He could see the people who hadn't fled during the fight screaming and some even grabbing onto things to keep them from floating away.

Sonic struggled to get himself down to the ground where he can run, but he could only float weightlessly.

"Are you having fun?" Noise asked, levitating smoothly next to him.

"Not exactly," Sonic grunted out, using his momentum to catch him off guard and knock him away.

Noise shrugged. "That's too bad then. Because I sure am!" he cackled as black and red energy covered him.

Noise lunged at Sonic, but Tails flew by and knocked the hedgehog away, sending the two of them rolling away in the air. Noise ended up crashing into a wall. Tails quickly put something in Sonic's hand and grabbed the other, flying him away. "Call the base. We need help!" Tails muttered, crying out when a black energy spike nearly grazed him.

Wasting no time, Sonic quickly dialed Amy. "Amy, can you hear me? We're being attacked in the city!"

"Sonic?….fwjdwk….I…he...soon…kjghg..."he heard a reply, but it was too distorted and jumbled for him to understand what the pink hedgehog was saying.

What's going? He stiffened when he looked back and saw Noise gaining on them, glitching through the air. "Tails, hurry!"

"I'm trying!" Tails called back in panic, doing his best to avoid the floating objects in their way. He barely managed to squeeze them through the space between two vehicles before they collided with each other.

Another flicker and Noise appeared right in front of them, kicking Tails away.

Sonic cried out. "No!"

"You actually thought you could escape me?" Noise asked, cackling madly.

Sonic grimaced. _What's up with this guy? He doesn't look like he's taking any of this seriously!_

"It's been fun really, but I should be putting an end to this now," he said menacingly as his hand sparked with red.

Sonic struggled to get away, but he had no way of avoiding it. Just as Noise was about to slash at him, a green aura suddenly encased Sonic and pulled him away just in time, much to their surprise. "Huh?"

"Got you!" Silver muttered, bringing Sonic to his side.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Noise growled and rushed to him only to get caught by the hedgehog's psychic force.

Silver felt his enemy trying to break free and tightened his invisible grip on him. "Stop resisting. You're not getting away from me!"

Charging up his hands, Silver was ready to stun his foe when he suddenly glitched from their sight. "What?!"

In that moment, gravity returned to normal and all of them except Silver fell down on the ground.

"Ow," Sonic grunted, rubbing his cheek.

Noise materialized among the wreckage and surprised them by laughing still. "I was planning on finishing you guys right here, but you proved to be a lot more entertaining than I expected. I'll be seeing you all again soon," he flashed them one final jagged grin before turning around and disappearing.

Silver scanned the area until he was sure he was gone and then walked over to Sonic and Tails. "I was sent to see what was going on. You two alright?"

"Just a little sore," Tails said, rubbing his shoulder where he was hit. "Thanks for saving us, Silver,"

"It's fine, but who was that guy?" he asked.

"Let's…let's get to the base first," Sonic said tensely, looking at the wreckage around them. "We'll explain everything there,"

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"He what?!" Knuckles and Amy muttered.

"He didn't have a ruby," Sonic stated again.

"That's impossible! You just said that he was using Infinite's powers!" the echidna countered.

"That's exactly what I don't get either! I kept trying to get close enough to destroy the source of his power, but I couldn't see it anywhere on him," Sonic huffed.

"That's odd," Amy murmured. "Is it possible for someone to use the ruby's power without actually holding it, Tails?"

Tails shook his head, clearly frustrated by the situation. "No, they shouldn't. Everyone we've encountered before had the ruby with them. Infinite, Eggman and even Gadget was holding his piece of it. Nothing about that guy back there makes any sense!" he stated, his mind racing feverishly for any kind of explanation. Not to mention he didn't want to consider the implications behind that.

The ruby was the main weakness in their enemies that they had exploited before, so if there was not one to be found on him then…

"What if he's a robot and the ruby's actually hidden inside of him?" Silver suggested, but Sonic shook his head.

"He seemed too real to be a robot," he said, recalling the times where he was hit by the stranger. His body didn't feel as hard as a robot should be, but then again he wouldn't put it past Egghead to come up with something like that.

"This is getting us nowhere," Knuckles groaned, slumping on the couch. The five sat in the room in silence, not knowing what to say.

"I think I have theory," Tails suddenly said and they all turned to him. "We all know that Eggman experimented with the original Phantom Ruby and made prototypes of it in his lab. We also know that Infinite assisted him in his project and eventually became the subject of it, so…"

"You think there was someone else who was part of the project that we don't know about?" Silver concluded. The fox nodded.

"But how will we figure out who it is?" Sonic asked.

"Easy," Knuckles said, getting back their attention. "Tails, call Rouge. We're going to G.U.N's prison,"

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading.**


	8. Just Static

**Chapter 8 – Just Static**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back with a new chapter. This was pretty tough to write. I actually spent a couple of weeks working on it, but I wasn't satisfied with any of the previous drafts so I didn't post any of them. I feel this one turned out the best.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

"This way, boys,"

Sonic grimaced as they walked down the corridor behind Rouge. Knuckles strode silently next to him, eyes drifting to the bat every now and then while Silver was glancing around the prison cells tensely. He was glad a bit he wasn't the only one feeling that way.

"Are you guys sure about this? Shadow wasn't happy when I told him of your plan," Rouge suddenly said, turning to them with serious look.

"Look, we're gonna have a quick talk with the maniac and then be gone before you know it," Knuckles replied gruffly.

She sighed. "Just choose your words carefully and make sure not let him on what's going in case he doesn't. We don't want him using such information against us,"

"You've got nothing to worry about," Sonic said with a cocky grin, but then dropped it once they looked away from him. He was trying his best to stay focused, but it was really hard considering where he was. He really didn't want to be here. He felt trapped by the prison walls, suffocated by them, but he just had to come in case something went wrong, which was likely considering whom they were visiting.

Rouge suddenly stopped. "We're here!"

Sonic's head snapped up when the bat entered a faintly lit room and he nearly froze up as soon as they were inside. Right in the center of the room was a familiar looking jackal in handcuffs. Mostly.

Sonic never knew what the criminal looked like behind that creepy mask, not even during his….time at Eggman's prison, but this didn't match the face he had in mind. The Mobian had a long scar on his face along with mismatched eyes. He honestly looked like a mess. Fur unkempt, dirty prison jumpsuit and disheveled mane falling over his face slightly with heavy bags under his eyes. Despite all of this, the jackal grinned once he saw them.

"Well, look who's here. The pathetic little rodents are gracing me with a visit,"

"What did you say?!" Knuckles growled.

"Sorry, but we're not the ones in prison right now," Sonic said.

Infinite sent a searing glare at the hedgehog. "What do losers you want?" he asked impatiently.

Silver stepped forward, keeping his tone and expression calm. "We would like to learn more about the Phantom Ruby project and what went on during it. We already know you were played a major role in its success,"

Infinite blinked and eyed him warily. "Oh? And why do you ask?"

"That's none of your business," Knuckles cut in.

"Then I have no reason to tell you," the jackal scoffed defiantly, causing Knuckles to scowl.

"Why you…"

"How about you let me handle this?" Rouge put a hand on the guardian's shoulder. He huffed, but backed away nevertheless.

"Alright, Infinite. We only wish to learn about the doctor's ruby experiments. Were there any other people who participated in the project beside you?"

The jackal raised a brow suspiciously, but grunted back. "Of course not. It was just me,"

"That doesn't match up with what we know," Silver chided in and flinched when the criminal bared his teeth at him. He frowned and whispered to the bat. "Are you sure those cuffs are working? This could get out of hand,"

Rouge opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the jackal.

"Again with that! Just _what_ do you guys think I can actually do like this! Is it taking you this long to realize I don't have my powers anymore?" Infinite snarled, having had enough of all of this.

"Nice try, but that other guy in the city tells us otherwise!" Knuckles snapped back.

Infinite blinked. "Wait, what other guy?"

"Knuckles!" Rouge and Silver exclaimed while Knuckles winced at his mistake. Sonic could only slap his forehead. _Of course._

"What do you mean? Who is he talking about?" Infinite demanded.

The bat looked conflicted for a moment and her eyes flickered back to them, but she eventually sighed in defeat, seeing it was too late to deny it. "To put it simply, there were several attacks on the city recently and the suspect is using powers similar to the ones you used to have,"

Infinite stared at the four in disbelief, looking shocked by this.

"Even if you were telling the truth about not being involved in these attacks when you were free, you still might know about them," Rouge said, crossing her arms.

"I had nothing to do with any of that! You know, since I was busy being hunted down by your G.U.N pals the entire time!" he snapped sarcastically.

"I don't buy it. He's just trying to trick us!" Knuckles muttered, undeterred by the jackal's answer.

Infinite scowled in frustration. "Why would I be? For Eggman's sake? I will rip that traitor's mustache if I ever see him again!"

"Well then-"

"Enough! I'm getting a call," Rouge exclaimed, putting her hand on her earpiece. She hummed and nodded. "Alright, we'll be there soon," she turned to them. "I think that's enough chatting for today. Let's go,"

Silver nodded while Knuckles grumbled under his breath before following her too. Sonic however remained and watched the guards lead the criminal away, a solemn frown on his face.

"Sonic! You coming?"

"Y-yes!" the hedgehog stammered and walked after them.

"Nice going, Knuck-y," Rouge said. "Next time I'll be saving my warnings for you alone,"

"Hey, I didn't mean it, okay? I just wanted some answers!" Knuckles snapped back.

"Cut it out, guys. There is no point in fretting about it now," Silver said as he followed them into the elevator. The door began closing, but Sonic wasn't in yet.

"Sonic, hurry u-"

Sonic was standing next to Knuckles before he knew it, wearing his smuggest look to date.

"Show-off," Knuckles grunted.

"You asked for it," Sonic muttered with a long grin.

The four soon made it to the security room where a man with messy black hair was waiting for them.

"Hello, I'm Sam Lane. Um, nice to meet you," the man awkwardly bent down and shook hands with the three new Mobians.

"So, what did you want me to see?" Rouge asked with her hand on her hip. The man looked unsurely between the agent and her companions, not knowing if he should be letting them hear this or not.

He gulped anxiously. "Well….I was looking through the footage in the prison's security cameras from earlier today and I found something….weird," he left the words hanging in the air, as if he himself didn't know how else to explain it.

Rouge raised a brow. "Alright, let's see it then,"

The man walked back to his chair and pressed a few buttons on his keyboard. They were surprised when Infinite's cell specifically appeared on the screen. The jackal was walking back and forth in the room impatiently before going over to the door and kicking it, wincing immediately in pain.

Sonic held back a snicker while Knuckles openly laughed.

"That was totally worth coming here!" The echidna muttered through his laughter.

"Uh, that was…not what I wanted you to see," Sam said, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"Still worth it,"

"Then what is it?" Sonic asked.

The video then showed Infinite sitting down against the wall for a bit and that's when it happened. The jackal suddenly jerked backward as if he was zapped by something and curled up on himself in pain.

"W-what's going with him?" Silver asked, alarmed. The camera screen then began to stutter and glitch for some reason, much to their confusion, as Infinite continued squirming in pain. When he finally stopped, the screen returned to normal again.

"What was that?" Sonic murmured.

"Was there something wrong with the camera?" Rouge asked the man.

"No, I've already checked it recently and it was perfectly functional," Sam replied wearily, leaving everyone to process what they just witnessed.

"Hold on, when did this exactly happen?" Silver asked, approaching the screen.

Sam blinked. "Um…around 9:30 this morning,"

Silver's eyes widened. "Sonic, that's about the same time the city was attacked,"

"Ah-ha! So I was right then!" Knuckles bragged.

"I think it's a lot more complicated than that," Rouge said, getting everyone's attention. "Something has been bugging me about this whole thing for a while now. None of the agents ever reported Infinite using his powers on them around the time these attacks started happening. Even Shadow noted that during their fight at his hideout,"

Sonic frowned. "So you think he was telling us the truth back there?"

"Probably,"

"But how do you explain what we just saw then?!" Knuckles countered, gesturing to the screen.

"I don't know," Rouge sighed.

"Maybe I do," Silver said suddenly, looking at the screen in thought.

"Alright. Whatcha got?" Sonic asked, placing his hand on his hip.

"You know how Chaos Emeralds resonate with each other's presence? Well, maybe this is similar to that," he said.

"I don't get it. What does that have to do with anything?" Knuckles asked.

"What if…when Infinite lost the ruby, he wasn't completely stripped from its essence? What if something lingered within him?"

Sonic frowned, following his train of thought. "So you think that whatever it is, it may or may not be responding to what Noise is doing?" he concluded.

Silver nodded. "Exactly,"

"Well…that makes sense…I suppose," Rouge said, rubbing her chin. The four stood there, pondering over the new conclusion they got.

Sonic hummed, scratching his head. "Alright, we got that one figured, but it's not going to help us take down Noise,"

"Well, it's better than nothing, Blue. I'll report this to the main base and see what they think of it," the bat said and then smiled. "You boys did a good job here, at least two of you,"

"Hey!" Knuckles growled.

"Then I guess our work here is done," Sonic stated, feeling beyond relieved to be finally leaving this place, but he had no idea why had this pit in stomach that something was wrong.

"Alright, see you guys later," Rouge said with a wink after leading them to the exit.

"Good luck," Sonic said as the three began heading out. He was running while the other two were gliding through the air. He sighed, hoping they will never have to go back there again.

A few minutes later, his walkie-talkie buzzed to life.

"Sonic?"

The hedgehog perked up. "Oh, hey Tails. How is it going back there?"

"Sonic, we need help!"

That got the three immediately stopping in alarm "Tails, what's wrong? What happened?"

"He's here!"

 **XXXXXXXX**

For the past hour Tails had been tinkering with some of the resistance's weapons quietly in the main room. He hadn't thought they would need them after the war ended, but after what happened the other day he knew they needed to be ready at any given moment. He glanced over to Amy who was pacing back and forth in the center of the room.

"Ugh, where are they? It's been almost two hours!" she huffed, frustrated.

"Calm down, Amy. I'm sure everything is fine," Tails said absently.

The girl groaned and slumped on the seat next to him. "It's not that. It's just… everyone is going around doing stuff to help with what's happening on right now while we're stuck here doing nothing!"

Tails lowered his head, not able to deny that he felt the same. "Well, we were asked to stay here and watch over the base. There isn't much we can do about that,"

Amy stared at the table, tapping her foot impatiently and then perked up. "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we go out for a patrol?" she said, already running over to the door.

"What? But-" Tails bit his lip. It wasn't really a bad idea and he didn't see any harm in that. Besides, he did need a break away from all his inventions anyway. "Alright," he sighed while the girl cheered and practically rushed out of the door.

The two were soon walking through the neighborhood, looking about and greeting everyone they came across. The sky was turning a shade of orange as the sun drew closer to setting.

Amy was humming quietly to herself with her hammer slung over her shoulder, her eyes surroundings for anything suspicious. The only noises were coming from a nearby park and an old power generator that was humming rather loudly. She gagged as they come across some abandoned broken pipes leaking gunk into the ground and turned her gaze away in disgust.

"Hey, Tails? Do you think the others will find anything?" she asked him to break the silence between them.

Tails blinked and turned to face her. "Well, I can't really say how much Infinite will be willing to tell them, but I sure hope they do. It's the only lead we got right now," he said, rubbing his neck anxiously. He was clearly worried about the situation more than he was letting on.

"They better not make us wait any longer. Otherwise I will personally go bring them back myself," she laughed, having meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, but she was surprised at the sight of the fox staring at her with wide eyes. "What?" she asked, tilting her head in concern.

A sudden burst of hot air blew over her head, startling her. She looked up and her blood went cold. An eight foot black hound was glaring down at the two of them with mad pink eyes, baring its teeth.

She was paralyzed with fear, her mind unable to process what she was seeing.

The beast lunged with its jaw open wide.

Tails grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, barely escaping the massive rows of teeth. The fox ran for all his worth underneath it and toward the other direction.

"Where did that thing come from?" Amy managed to stammer as she tried to keep up with her friend who was still holding on tightly to her hand.

"I don't know!" Tail exclaimed back, voice laced with panic. The duo dared to glance back and cried out as the dog began chasing after them, its heavy footsteps nearly shaking the very ground beneath them.

Amy's mind raced as she tried to think of a way to escape their pursuer. She didn't see any good hiding places where the thing can't get to them and there was no way they can outrun it. She glanced up to the buildings above. "Somewhere high! We need to get somewhere higher!" She shouted frantically.

"I'm on it! Hold on!" Tails called back and began taking off with her. The dog went airborne and opened its mouth. Amy cried out and pulled her legs up as its teeth nearly caught her. The dog landed on the ground and growled viciously, the monstrous sound sending a chill down their spines.

Tails ended up dropping them on a balcony, panting. "So…close…." He said through gulps of air.

Amy had her hand over her chest as she tried to calm her heartbeat. "Where did that thing come from? It wasn't behind us just a moment ago!"

"I don't know. It just appeared behind you and-" he gasped as the same thought hit them both. "It must be his doing,"

"But where is he?" Amy asked, looking around for any sign of the villain before returning her gaze to the monster below. The creature was jumping up and down in an attempt to reach them. "Tails, we need to stop it before it hurts someone!"

"But how?!" Tails stammered. Neither of them was strong enough to take down that the beast in a fight. Maybe if he had tornado with him they would have a chance. He bit his lip. "I'm going to have to go back to the base to grab a weapon. I can't really see another way for us to defeat it,"

Amy glanced back down and pursed her lips. "Alright, hurry,"

Nodding, the fox left the balcony and flew away. Amy then turned her attention to the dog as it continued trying to get to her. _Come on, Tails…._

"So, what do you think of my new pal?"

Amy jerked away in fright at the new voice and saw a white furred Mobian sitting on the rail next to her with his legs dangling in the air

Immediately matching the description she was given, she swung her hammer at him only for him to glitch away a bit further from her. "No!" she snapped.

"Aw, come on. Don't be like that. It just wants someone to _**PLAY**_ with," he said, teeth growing sharper for a second.

"Get it away from me!"

Noise shrugged. "Oh well. Your loss. I guess we'll find someone else then," he said and made a swirling motion with his finger.

Suddenly, the dog stopped and turned its attention to the park. Noise laughed excitedly while Amy gasped as it began heading toward it. There were still people there. She couldn't let it get to them. _I hope I don't regret this._ Without thinking, she climbed onto the edge of the rail.

"Hold on, what are you doing?" Noise asked, raising a brow.

Amy leapt down, plummeting through the air briefly before colliding with the dog's back.

"Ow," she groaned then yelped as the dog tried shaking her off, but she managed to somehow hold on until it stopped. Seeing her chance, she rushed over its back and charged her hammer, leaping into the air and then slamming it down on its head, hard. The dog snarled in pain.

"Look out!" She yelled as the beast began tearing through the place, barely managing to grab onto a handful of fur while people ran away screaming. Gritting her teeth, she made her way over on top of its head again and with a yell brought her hammer down over its eye.

The beast cried out and jerked forward, sending her flying over to the ground.

Amy tried getting up as she felt its eyes fall on her again, but she gasped as pain shoot through her arm. Just as it began approaching her, an orange blast hit the side of its head and caused it to collapse. The force of the impact knocked Amy further away.

Tails was clutching one of his guns tightly in his hands panting as he watched the beast exploded into pixels. He then rushed to her side. "Amy, are you okay?!"

"Not my arm," she grunted, wincing. "We at least took it down though," she said, forcing a smile.

The two glanced over to where the creature had fallen; looking as it never existed a moment ago.

"Yeah," the fox nodded with a loud exhale. "We shouldn't leave you like this. Let's get you back to the base to fix you up quickly,"

Nodding along, Amy let him help her up.

"You guys really like ruining my fun, don't you?"

The two stiffened and spun around to see Noise standing not far from them, a disapproving frown on his face.

Tails quickly got in front of Amy, knowing she won't be able to fight in her injured state. "Stay back!" he yelled, aiming his gun at him even though he knew it might not succeed in hurting him. He tried to remain calm though. "I called Sonic and the others. He will come here any second and beat you!"

Noise blinked. "Who? Oh, right. The blue hedgehog!" he tapped his forehead and perked up as he remembered. "I actually never got to finish that fight with him last time, so I wouldn't mind him coming. It doesn't really matter what he will do though. A game is still a game,"

Tempting his luck, Tails fired several shots at him while he was distracted. Their surroundings flickered twice and the bullets glitched through him into a nearby tree instead.

Noise smirked at the attempt, black energy swirling around him. "But I guess there is no harm in making the game a little more fun, right?"

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The sun had already set by the time Sonic got back and the sky was a dark shade of orange. Without missing a beat, the hedgehog ran through the streets as fast he could with the other two not far behind, clutching the walkie-talkie tightly in his hand.

He stopped just as the park came into view, his feet creating a dust cloud. He saw Amy standing in front the gate, clutching her arm.

"Amy? What happened? " he muttered as Silver and Knuckles stood behind him in stunned silence.

"He took him," The girl turned to them, her eyes watery. "I'm…I'm sorry,"

Sonic felt his heart skip a beat and he glanced down at his walkie-talkie desperately. "Tails? Please, answer me,"

There was only static.

 **XXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. I'll probably be making some art for this fic soon. I'll be sure to let you guys know when it's ready.**


	9. Forced Alliance

**Chapter 9 – Forced Alliance**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for the feedback. I appreciate all of it. This chapter was finished not long ago, but I wanted to finish the drawings that I said I will do for this fic.**

 **Since this site doesn't allow me to leave links, here's what you gotta do. Go to Google and write "ExtremeLight9" "Deviantart" and it should take you to my account.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

" _There were several attacks on the city recently…"_

Infinite pursed his lips, lying on his side on the worn out bed of his cell. It's been several hours, but that conversation wouldn't stop replying in his head.

"… _the suspect is using powers similar to the ones you used to have…"_

It had to be a lie, he told himself over and over. They were just trying to mess with him. There was no way it could be true.

"… _powers….similar…"_

It was just impossible.

But no matter what he told himself, no matter what excuses he made to justify it, he could never convince himself. To Sonic and his allies, he was defeated. Stripped from his power and locked away. Why would they lie to him? What could they possibly gain from tricking him? _Nothing_.

That left his mind wandering back to the time he spent in Eggman's lab. He tried recalling all the exchanges they had, hoping for a slip-up or anything that will confirm what he just learned.

 _Infinite was panting as he floated up to the air again. Red cubes hummed around him as he looked up at the sky. He shakily reached his hand out and willed his power again._

 _A dark red hue washed over the sky in a circle above them, causing whatever animals still around to flee. He managed to hold it like that for two minutes before finally letting go, exhausted._

" _Excellent. You're doing better than I expected," Eggman said, approaching him from afar._

 _Ignoring the pain in his chest where the ruby glinted, he glared back at the doctor. "I've showed you enough. It's time for us to head out,"_

 _The man shook his head disapprovingly. "No, not yet. You still tire from using the ruby for too long. If we don't work on fixing that then it will burn you out,"_

 _Infinite gritted his teeth, knowing he was right. He then glanced over when the man began typing frantically on his wrist watch._

" _Incredible. These reading are exceeding my expectations. The power to alter reality...to tamper with the mind….imagine what we'll find at the end if we push this project even further! I might even surpass my grandfather," he was muttering more to himself than to Infinite at that point._

" _What?" Infinite asked with raised brow._

" _Ugh, never mind. It's nothing," Eggman huffed dismissively. "Go rest. I'll need you fully charged for the next test,"_

 _Infinite watched the doctor walk away and clutched his fists in frustration._

Infinite didn't recall any moment when the doctor had let him know, intentionally or not, about there being other subjects in the experiment. It was always just him. Eggman told him he was the most suited for this, but his last encounter with that man had shown him just foolish of him it was to give him his full trust.

Another part of him was denying the news for a different reason. He didn't want accept that someone out there, going around using the power that he was meant for him. All that time he spent in the lab, all those tests he had gone through and the side effects. He had earned that power and the mere idea of someone else having it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

 _It had to be just lies._

Sighing, he closed his eyes, doubting he'll be getting any sleep if he tried now. Not that the bed he had here was any help to begin with.

Suddenly, there was loud knocking on the cell door, making Infinite wince.

"Hey, wake up!"

"Cut it out!" Infinite snapped back, a hand on his ear. "Do you have _any_ idea how painful that is?!"

The guard paused, looking unsure of whether to apologize or not. He then cleared his throat. "Get up. You're wanted,"

"What?" Infinite blinked, but the guard offered no further explanation as he opened the door and stepped aside.

Confused and unsure, the jackal sat up and slowly walked out of the door where more guards were waiting.

 _What is happening?!_ He thought as he was pushed forward into a room where another human was standing there dressed differently from the guards. He had a buzz cut and wore dark glasses.

"Well, never thought I would get to meet the little runaway criminal in person," he said calmly, though he didn't make much effort in hiding his disdain for the Mobian.

"And who're you supposed to be?" Infinite growled lowly.

"I'm Captain Lance Winter from G.U.N," he said, bending down to meet the jackal's gaze, smiling. "And you're going to be our ticket to capturing our new target,"

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

To say Shadow was furious wouldn't really do it justice. He had his arms crossed as he watched them lead the cuffed Infinite inside a truck, fuming silently.

"Stare any harder and you might burn a hole into that truck," Rouge said from behind him.

Shadow turned to her and Omega. "Of course I go through the trouble of capturing that criminal only for G.U. N to decide to let him go and _of course_ that blue fool has something to do with it,"

"It's not really his fault. This is what the commander wants," she replied with sigh.

"That is true," Captain Winter said, walking up to them.

"We literally had to go hunt him down across the state and fight our way inside his hideout and now you guys are just gonna give him a chance to escape?!" Shadow muttered, gritting his teeth.

"You really think I'm happy with this? Listen, agent Shadow. The last two attacks had been all over the news and the disappearance of that fox kid is not helping the public stay calm. The whole country is in panic now and it won't be long before the rest of the world hears about this too," the man stated seriously. "We need to capture that psychopath before he attacks again at any cost and using that Infinite will be our means to do so if the information agent Rouge has found for us is true. Got it?"

While Rouge flinched at that, Shadow gritted his teeth, but didn't object. "Just don't be surprised if this goes south,"

"Don't worry. We're not planning on letting that happen," he said calmly and walked away.

 _Like I trust you._ Shadow thought before following his teammates out.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

"Ow!" Amy winced.

"Sorry," Espio said as he worked on bandaging her arm. "There,"

"Thanks, you're pretty good at this," she said gratefully while examining it.

"We sometimes got hurt while doing missions for our clients so I was the one who did the patching up," the chameleon shrugged, but she could hear a hint of wistfulness in his voice.

He probably missed the times before the war as much as she did. Even when there was always a bad guy right around the corner, things just felt so much different than they did now.

Knuckles suddenly walked into the room, looking stressed. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll be stuck doing radio work for now though," she said, looking down at her bandaged arm.

"Totally with that," he grunted and then looked around. "Hold on, have you guys seen Sonic?"

"I think he went to the break room. He hasn't come out yet," Espio answered.

"Oh,"

The three fell into silence at that. After discovering what happened from Amy, the hedgehog had searched the entire city and all the nearby areas for his little brother, but the fox was just gone, vanished without a trace for them to follow.

"I'm really sorry," Amy muttered, looking down at her lap guiltily.

This made the guardian frown. "Amy, stop apologizing. You know there was nothing you could've done. Not even Sonic managed to take Noise down on his own,"

"But leaving the base was my idea. If we had stay-"

"Then the enemy would have still attacked anyway and none of us would have been there to stop it in time," Espio cut in. His words seemed to help the girl feel a bit better, but she didn't look like she fully believed them.

Knuckles turned from them and went into the break room. "Sonic?" he sighed at the sight of the hero sitting behind a table with his hand on his cheeks. The walkie-talkie was placed right next to him.

"Why are you still carrying that thing around?" Knuckles asked with raised brow.

"In case he calls," he answered tiredly.

Knuckles knew he meant Tails and barely held back a groan. "Sonic, you don't honestly think Tails still has his at this point, do you?"

"Well, at least I'm trying something!" Sonic snapped back.

Knuckles scowled. "Hey, don't yell at me. I get it, okay?" he averted his gaze away a little. "He is my buddy too, remember?"

Sonic dropped his angry look at that and faced the table again. "Sorry," he sighed. Their search for the missing fox had been gotten them nowhere near finding him so they ended up reporting it to the authorities when they asked about the recent attack.

So much had gone wrong so fast and Sonic didn't have anyone to blame but himself. Knuckles didn't understand. People everywhere counted on Sonic to fight evil away, to always be there. He was supposed to be the one who saved the day and made everything better, but when Tails had called him for help, he failed him. He wasn't fast enough. He couldn't do anything when it really mattered.

After he returned to the house from his fruitless search he found some of the fox's gadgets left untended on the table. He was probably planning to finish working on them when he came back home with Amy from their patrol.

The sight had been almost too much.

Sonic couldn't imagine what Tails was feeling right now wherever he was or if Noise was hurting him right now. He didn't want to think about it. They had to save him as quickly as possible, but the plan they had to figure out where he was taken was just…terrible.

"Can't believe we're gonna bring him into this, out of everyone," Sonic said and then forced a weak smile at his friend. "How bad do you think that meeting will go though?"

"Disastrous," Knuckles grunted, rubbing his temples tiredly. "Can you imagine how much of a nightmare it was for me explaining this to the others?"

"I don't like it as much as you guys do, but if it means finding Tails…then so be it," he replied. He would just have to grit his teeth and go along with it, but deep down he knew it wasn't going to be that easy for them.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Consciousness slowly returned to him and he opened his eyes to see his surroundings shifting underneath his feet and he couldn't move his arms for some reason. It took Tails a moment to realize he was hanging in the air and cried out. "Ah!"

He gasped at the pain in his sides, feeling the rope squeezing tightly around his arms. Panicking, he tried struggling his way out of it, but he only ended up swinging back and forth in the air.

"Careful there, buddy,"

Tails head snapped to the voice and his eyes widened as Noise floated up to him with his legs crossed and a wide grin plastered over his face. "You don't wanna risk falling from there, right?"

"Y-you! Let me out!" he growled, gritting his teeth while making another attempt to break free.

"Ah-ah! That I cannot do," Noise shook his finger at him disapprovingly. "I brought you here to make our little game more exciting. What will be the point in me setting you free then?"

Tails huffed, glaring at him. "You're just a coward like Eggman! All you do is hiding behind your plans and schemes because you can't fight fair!"

Just as the words left him his mouth, the air in the building went cold and the playful glint in Noise's eyes vanished, replaced with a feral glare that made his breathing hitch.

Noise floated closer to the bound fox's gaze, growling. "Listen, kid, if I wanted to crush you and your friends before, I could've done it without any problems, but you guys turned out to be a lot more entertaining than I expected, so why break a toy when you can still play with it?" his scowl then turned to a twisted smile that promised unfathomable insanity. "I have big plans for you and everyone else, but I'm just taking my time with the preparations. When everything is finally set, we're going to have an _**amazing**_ time you'll never forget!" he said, teeth growling sharper.

Tails felt a chill go through his body, unable to imagine what he could he possibly planning. It took him to remember to breathe.

Then, as if a switch had been turned, the red eyed Mobian's playful demeanor returned instantly. "There, see? That wasn't so hard. You're actually a better listener than those other friends of yours,"

Tails gulped, though he felt relieved. If there really was no way for him to get out then might as well try getting some information out of his captor since his he didn't seem to be taking this even a little seriously. He might let his guard down and let something slip. "You still haven't told me who exactly you are or how you're doing all of this." He asked, trying to hide his true intentions behind the questions. "Are you doing this for someone?"

"Oh, I'm afraid that's my little secret, kiddo. I'm just Noise and that's all you need to know," he smiled, placing his finger over his lips. "But to answer your other questions, I don't work for anybody. Not a fan of being bossed around, you see?"

"But-"

"I think we talked enough for now. It's been a pleasure, but I've got places to be, people to find," he floated away from Tails with just those words.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"See ya later! Oh, and don't think about trying to escape or my friend down there will be very upset,"

With that, Noise glitched away through the wall, leaving Tails hanging there in stunned silence.

"Wait, come back!" The fox tried breaking free once more, swinging back and forth in the air, but eventually slumped in defeat, panting. _What do I do? Is there even a way for me to break out of this?_

But what did he mean by-

Tails' question was answered immediately when he heard something rumbling down below. He glanced down and stiffened when he saw something huge shifting in the dark corner of the room. He couldn't quite make it out, but he could see that it had long, thick tendrils slithering in the shadows.

Tails shivered in fear and found himself despairing a little. He needed to get out of here to warn Sonic and the others, but there didn't seem to be any way for him to escape at all!

 _Well, I might as well for him to come back, wherever he went._ He thought with a sigh. 

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Dr. Eggman felt sweat drip down his forehead as the end of the gun remained close to his chin.

It happened too fast for Eggman to process it. After losing his grand empire, he went to hide from the world in his underground base to recover. He had been typing on his main computer that night when all the screens in the lab suddenly began flashing and flickering.

He had been confused; wondering if it was some kind of virus when the next thing he knew all the robots in his lab, even the incomplete and broken ones, came to life.

Now he found himself cornered in front of the keyboard with multiple guns and canons aimed directly at him. The culprit behind all of this was floating among them, cackling gleefully

"N-now, now. Take it easy. Can we talk about this?" he stammered, edging slightly away from the robot's gun against his face.

"Well, well, if it isn't the good old doctor. I've been looking all over the place for you. Never thought you would be hiding all the way down here,"

Eggman blinked at the stranger. "Y-you've been looking for me?"

"Yeah! I've been hearing about you all around Mobias," he said, floating closer to an egg pawn on a table. A red spark shot from his finger and went inside it. The robot slowly rose up, glaring at the doctor with the same possessed red eyes.

"How did you that? I'm programmed them to work for me!"

"I've got my ways. All it takes a little touch," he grinned, hand glowing ominously.

Eggman began to grow impatient with this stranger. "Well, what do you want from me? Who are you?"

The stranger grinned and pulled out two Chaos Emeralds. "I want you to build something for me,"

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. This was meant more of a set up chapter since the next is gonna be pretty intense.**


	10. Dark Thorn

**Chapter 10 – Dark Thorn**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, things have been pretty stressful for the past couple of weeks with my midterms and projects so I had rough time getting this chapter done. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. It's gonna get intense in this one!**

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 _ **A week ago**_

Flint put the last thing in his bag, sealing it shut.

"Are you really serious about this?"

"You saw what happened back there. We don't know what they might do to him. We need to-" Flint was grabbed by the shoulders before he could finish and was forced to face the hunter.

"Are you out of your mind? You're going after those agents and risking yourself just to save that maniac?"

Flint faltered and his ears drooped at that.

"Just forget about him," another older jackal said, leaning against the wall of the house. "He's been nothing but a traitor to us for a long time. We were doing just fine before he showed up,"

" _That's rich coming from the same cowards who fled and left me alone in the middle of a mission!"_

Having his own words mirrored back at him stung to say the least. Flint honestly didn't know why he was doing any of this, but he didn't feel like he could just go back to the way things were before Zero returned, pretending that none of that ever happened.

 _They were sitting on the roof. Zero had permanent scowl on his face and trying to look unfazed despite the terrible state he was in._

Zero was a great leader, always thinking of what's best for the squad and pushing them to be stronger and better. His absence had affected them in more ways than they would like to admit. Nothing felt the same after he was gone. Flint would be lying if said he didn't feel torn about what happened during the night of their last mission in the past, but now he felt more so than ever before.

"Tell me…was it right for us to leave Zero behind during that night?" he asked quietly, genuinely wanting an answer.

The jackals around him looked surprised, but he got no immediate answer.

"W-well, it's like we could've done anything anyway if we stayed. We had no way of beating that hedgehog!" one of them snapped back.

Flint looked down. "Then how does that make us any better than Zero? Looking back on it…it doesn't look like we gave him any reason to come back here," he said and silence fell over the room.

"And what about everything else he-"

Flint tightened his grip on the strap of his bag and walked past him before he could finish. "I'm going to find Zero and bring him back…wherever he is," _Even if it's too late for it now; I want do something this time._

With that said, he stepped out of the house. Their hideout was still in bad shape after the attack and many houses were damaged. It will take some time to get everything back to the way it was. He won't be here to witness that though.

He glanced back at the other mercenaries murmuring among each other and tilted his head. "So, are you guys coming with me or not?"

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Infinite growled, baring his teeth as he was strapped to a chair next to some machinery and a computer screen. Once the man was done with the straps, he gave a thumbs-up to the captains who nodded and left the van.

Infinite began struggling against his binds.

"Make sure he doesn't get out," the woman at the computer said, the light from the screen reflecting on her glasses.

"Got it," the man said.

After several minutes, Infinite spoke up just to break the silence. "Do I at least get to know what I'm in here for?"

"You already know why you're here. Just let us work," the woman said curtly before picking up a wired helmet and holding it out. "Here, put it on his head,"

The man took it and went over to the jackal. Infinite moved his head left and right to prevent that. "Get your junk away from me!"

The man forced the helmet on his head and stepped back. Infinite tried shaking it off. "Ugh, what is this?!"

"Yes, we're ready," the woman murmured in her earpiece ignoring him once again and began typing on her computer again.

The machine beside him began to hum ominously and before he could process it, a sharp jolt traveled through his head. He gritted his teeth as the pain there intensified and his chest felt like it was on fire.

Images bathed in red flashed in his mind, of a cliff over a lake, a forest in the mountains near the city. Words upon words poured inside his head that he couldn't make sense of followed by mechanical screeching. He kept his mouth shut to prevent himself from crying out.

The two humans were talking in the corner, but he could barely hear what they were saying. He was certain though he heard her mutter, _"-ere! We found him!"_

The machine suddenly stopped and the pain coursing through his body slowly subsided. Infinite lurched forward, panting. He felt completely drained. Eyes drooping, he barely felt it when the van began moving.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

The resistance was standing outside the city limits, waiting for a call from G.U.N.

Sonic was pacing back and forth. His gaze turned to the resistance members present. Knuckles and Silver were discussing something together. Victor and Espio were passing supplies to the other members who agreed to help with the rescue. Sonic also knew Team Dark will be there with the G.U.N forces to back them up. He looked around at the surrounding area, the cloudy sky, anything to keep him busy while he waited and waited for _that call-_

"Sonic,"

The hedgehog jerked away from the hand on his shoulder and turned to Knuckles. He had his shovel claws on and was looking at him in concern. "O-oh, did you say something?"

" _No,_ but I can see how anxious you're getting all the way from my spot over there," Knuckles sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, it's not really that big of a deal. This isn't the first time we had to save someone. It won't be much different from any of those times,"

Sonic blinked and stared at the echidna who was rubbing his neck awkwardly. It wasn't like Knuckles to try to be reassuring this way. That was definitely something _Sonic_ would say at a time like this, but the hedgehog himself didn't feel at ease with this mission at all. No matter how many times he told himself that it was irrational, that everything was going to be fine, there was no shaking the cold feeling creeping at the back of his mind.

Still, he needed to pull it together. If Knuckles noticed it then everyone else probably will. "I know, I know. I'm just…worried I guess," he replied eventually.

"Well, if you're gonna put your energy into something then it should be making sure that jerk is sent flying straight out of Mobias," Knuckles grinned, patting his shoulder lightly.

 _Yeah, of course._ He thought with a new sense of determination. Right, this wasn't just about saving his little brother but about stopping Noise once and for all.

" _Sonic?"_

The hedgehog took out his walkie-talkie at a startling speed. "Yes, Amy?"

" _They found Noise. He's somewhere in the west, about twenty miles from where you are. I'll be sending you the coordinates right now,"_

"Okay. Thanks, Amy!" he replied.

" _Be careful out there, and teach Noise a lesson, for Tails and I,"_ Amy added fiercely.

Sonic smirked. "You got it!"

The two exchanged a nod and Knuckles turned to the group. "Alright, everyone. Let's head out!"

"Hold still," Silver hovered over and picked up the other members with his powers, dashing through the air after Sonic and Knuckles.

 _Hang in there, buddy_. Sonic thought.

 **XXXXXXXX**

Shadow sighed after taking a swig from his bottle, wiping his mouth with the back of his fist. He glanced back at the edge of the forest warily, his ears trying to pick on any sounds coming from there. There were none. He then turned to their forces. Many cruisers, vans and soldiers were standing about. They were all heavily armed, but Shadow wasn't sure if it will help considering who they were dealing with.

G.U.N, despite all the power and resources they had, didn't last long against Infinite in the war and now this guy seemed to be even more dangerous than him according Sonic and his friends.

Speaking of which, he narrowed his eyes when he saw the members of the resistance coming their way.

"Hey, Blue. Glad to see you guys made it," Rouge said, hopping off a crate and walking over to them.

"Took your time," Shadow grunted.

"Hey!" Victor growled from the back of the group.

"Ignore him. He's just grumpy about the mission," the bat muttered and he sent her a glare.

"It's fine," Sonic replied. He sneaked an uneasy glance between them. "Where is….you know,"

"They're keeping him in one of those vans. I don't know what they are planning to do though," Rouge answered. Some resistance members looked relieved. Shadow was a bit surprised when he saw Sonic's posture relax at that, but refrained from mentioning it.

The captain suddenly called. "Alright, since everyone's here it's time for us to head in. Once were there, hit him with all you got. No holding back, got it?" he said. They all gave him an affirmative. "Then spread out,"

Immediately, they all started venturing into the forest. Shadow kept his eyes peeled while dashing through the trees.

" _Any sign so far, agent Shadow?"_

"Not yet," he replied and jumped onto a tree branch to scan the area. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was actually quite paranoid about this. Their enemy could manipulate their surroundings as he pleased. Anything could be a threat and all it will take was to walk right into it.

Suddenly, he felt a whoosh of air behind him and jumped off the branch just as a robot slashed it off with its blade. It had a knight-like design with sharp black and red armor. It had a thick sword in one hand and a canon for the other.

 _A robot? So Eggman's involved in this?_ Shadow thought, though in retrospect this shouldn't come as such a surprise.

Air burst from the knight's back jets and it dashed toward the hedgehog while they were still in the air, aiming the end of its sword at him. Shadow quickly teleported down to safety and it impaled the ground instead, causing a strong shockwave in the process.

Shadow huffed. "Oh, so you're Eggman's new fancy toy? He's going to be so disappointed when I send you to his doorsteps in pieces!" he taunted with a scowl, bracing himself before charging at it.

He leapt into the air without stopping and swung his leg at the side of its head, but to his surprise, the robot phased right through him. In midair, Shadow felt the end of a canon aimed at the back of his head and teleported away just as it fired.

Panting, Shadow eyed it warily. What's going on? Since when Eggman's robots were this strong or this smart even? Something was completely off about this one.

Dust blew behind the knight as it charged at Shadow and began slashing at him. The hedgehog tried his hardest to evade its attacks, but it still managed to leave a cut on his side.

Wincing in pain, the hedgehog turned and jumped onto a large rock. Close-range attacks didn't seem to be working on this robot. He needed to keep as much distance possible from it.

"Chaos Spear!" Several blades of energy materialized over his head and he wasted no time launching them at it, but the robot once again phased through the barrage like it was nothing and fired a charged blast at him.

Shadow jumped down just in time, but the attack was strong enough to blow up the rock and knock him off the air, sending him crashing into the ground with a grunt.

Shadow raised his head to see the robot aiming his gun at him again. He gritted his teeth. _I didn't want to resort to this so soon, but I have no choice._

Gathering energy all around him, he exclaimed. "Chaos Blast!"

And just like that everything near him evaporated immediately. The robot tried escaping the blast, but ended up getting caught in it eventually.

The red glow faded and Shadow was left breathless momentarily. He was surrounded by a large circle of scorched earth, but the robot was nowhere to be seen.

 _Finally._ He straightened up and touched the area where his wound was, flinching from his own touch. He probably shouldn't move around too much like this.

But now that his attention wasn't fixed on the knight anymore, Shadow suddenly caught on to the sound of gun fire in the distance. Alarmed, he rushed through the forest as fast as he could until he made it to a clearing.

His eyes widened. There, at the edge of a clearing was a colossal armored robot. It had six legs, a massive circular saw for a right hand and a canon poking out of its mouth. Right in front of it, Silver was struggling to keep it trapped in his energy field. The white hedgehog's powers seemed to be the only thing keeping it from tearing through the place.

Down below, their allies seemed to be dealing with problems of their own. Some were firing at the giant mecha's legs and body, but their weapons didn't seem to be doing much against its thick armor. Robot drones meanwhile were flying all around the battle area, firing down at the soldiers and resistance members. They had sharp appearances to them and long white tendrils, giving them an almost alien look.

 _Nothing I've seen Eggman create before…_ Shadow thought, beyond confused at this point, but then his eyes widened when he realized what they were firing.

Phantom cubes.

He looked over to a soldier, lying unconscious in the grass. It made sense now. While he was slightly relieved that they weren't physically hurt, he knew what the nightmares those cubes conjured could put someone through. He experienced it firsthand. If Eggman had joined forces with Noise then this only spelled disaster for them.

His attention returned to the battle. He saw Espio running through the clearing, flinging ninja stars at any enemy coming his way. Three drones tried surrounding him. He dropped a small ball on the ground and it released a big cloud of smoke, concealing him from sight. The drones started shooting haphazardly into the smoke until ninja stars struck them out of nowhere and they exploded instantly.

Espio turned visible again while broken pieces of metal fell all around him. A robot suddenly him came rushing behind and smacked him away. It began approaching him threateningly when massive hand grabbed it from behind by the head.

"I don't think so!" Victor growled, slamming it into the ground with all his might.

Shadow frowned, reaching down for his wound. He knew he shouldn't strain himself in this state, but he needed to help. He took out his emerald and cried out. "Chaos Control!"

With that, everything came to a halt. The firing ceased and the battlefield went completely still. Wasting no time, he rushed over to pick up a fallen gun and fired at every drone in his sight until it ran out of ammo. The bullets, of course, froze in time the moment they left the gun, but that changed nothing.

Feeling his power draining, he undid the Chaos Control with another cry and the shots tore through every drone the second time returned to normal.

Shadow gritted his teeth, touching his temples in exhaustion. He already spent so much of his power and they didn't even face Noise yet! This wasn't going according to plan. They needed help.

Reaching for his walkie-talkie, he tried calling for backup, but he got no reply. "Come on! Not again!" he shook the thing in frustration. Why won't it work now of all times?

"Don't bother. We already tried," Espio said beside him. "Something must be messing with the signal,"

Shadow growled under his breath and put it away.

"Guys! I-I don't know how I long I can hold it!" Silver suddenly called, voice strained. The giant mecha was now fighting harder against his invisible grip, an eerie red glow shining through its visor. It looked down at the Mobians below and started charging its canon. Silver gasped. "LOOK OUT!"

Everyone barely had a chance to move out of the way as a powerful beam cut clean through the clearing, leaving a molten trail on the ground. The force of the blast was enough to knock everyone off their feet.

Shadow coughed and looked around at the destroyed area. He could see some recovering, some unconscious and others trying to help their fallen companions.

Thinking it over for a moment, he turned to Victor and Espio. "You two, get everyone out of here. Silver and I will hold them back!"

Victor looked ready to protest, but Espio held his hand out to him. "He's right, boss. The enemy has the upper hand right now. If we stick around then we'll be putting their lives in danger, especially the ones who are under Noise's influence right now. We need to get them all to safety,"

Victor looked conflicted, but gave in with a growl. "Fine, let's go!" the crocodile picked up two unconscious Mobians and started carrying them away. Espio nodded at the hedgehog before running off to help out too.

While Silver was busy keeping the giant heap of metal at bay, Shadow readied his emerald as more robots emerged from between the trees.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Sonic dashed through a long line of bots, the air current surrounding him sending them flying back. A rather larger one stood in his way, ready to swing his weapon.

Sonic slid between its legs just in time. In that moment of distraction, Knuckles came leaping through air and smashed its face with his fist.

Sonic glared up at Noise who was watching them from above gleefully. "Enough of these games! Where's Tails?" he demanded.

"Do you just like repeating yourself?" Noise asked, frowning. "I told you the little fox is somewhere playing with a big friend of mine,"

That did little to calm Sonic down.

Knuckles meanwhile was trying to land a hit on a robot, but he was growing frustrated as it continued making an effort to block his hits. "What's up with these guys? We used to take down punks like them all the time!"

"You like them? I had the good old doctor design them just for me so I can channel my power through them as I please. They're not just incompetent machines anymore," Noise said, floating down and placing a hand over a robot's head. Its blank red eyes flashed brighter in response.

"So that Egghead _is_ behind all these!" Knuckles growled.

"Yeah, took you long enough to figure it out," Noise replied with a roll of his eyes and the echidna fumed.

"Give him back!" the hedgehog lunged at him. Noise swiftly moved out the way, but Sonic wasn't letting him get away. He bounced off a robot and launched himself back at him again.

The villain was caught off guard this time and barely managed to block the blow. He made a mock pout. "Hey, that wasn't fair!"

"Says _you_!" Sonic snapped, landing on the ground. "Now tell me where he is!"

Noise cackled. "Well, I might give you a hint if you show me how well you deal with this," He waved his hand and all the robots backed off from the two. He then gathered dark energy in his hand and let out a massive energy burst; knocking the two several feet back into the air.

Sonic cracked an eye open to see a phantom clone appearing beside Knuckles and before he could warn his friend, it kicked him directly in the face. "Knuckles!"

He looked over to see Noise charging with a glowing claw aimed at his injured friend. Quickly, Sonic ran in and kicked the villain's hand away. "Back off!" Using his momentum, he drove his other foot into Noise's chest.

"Alright, how about this!" Noise snapped his finger and the phantom clone appeared next to him, its empty gaze locked onto Sonic. Without hesitation, the duo charged at the hedgehog at once, their glowing claws tearing through the air.

Sonic did his best to survive as the attacks came at him from every direction. There was no opening for him to land his own, so he focused on evading theirs. Eventually, they were too much. The clone managed to get behind him and slashed at his back, making him cry out in pain and fall on his knees.

He raised his head to see Noise giving him a jagged grin, phantom cube in hand. _**"Enjoy,"**_

Sonic didn't have the time to get out of the way and collapsed on his back, his mind _desperately_ trying to fight off the red hue consuming his vision, but it was a fight he was meant to lose. His mind went completely dark.

"Now that he's out of our way, it's the red one's turn-…wait, where did he go?"

The echidna was nowhere to be seen.

Noise smirked, thinking the idiot left his friend in his hands when the ground began shaking suddenly. Before they could react, Knuckles burst out from underneath them, his fist colliding hard with the clone's jaw.

Panting, Knuckles glared at Noise while the clone disappeared. "Thought could get rid of me that easily?" he glanced back to his teammate. "Sonic, you okay?"

The hedgehog didn't respond.

 _Sonic blinked as his surroundings stopped bending and warping around him. He was in a dark place, almost like a chamber of some sorts. Water filled the entire room, but it wasn't deep enough to reach his knees. He was slightly grateful for that._

" _Knuckles?" he called out. He didn't remember how he got here, but he did however remember being with the echidna before this. His voice echoed through the room, but he got no reply. He squinted hard and spotted something far ahead, red lights. They were distant and faint, but something felt ominous about them._

 _As soon as he took a step forward though, giant barred gates slammed in front of him. It almost looked like…._

 _He swallowed hard and tried finding another way to go, but it was locked off the same way as well._

 _Sonic backed off as more and more gates appeared around the room. He felt trapped, almost suffocated by them. He didn't know where to go._

 _Panicking, he turned away from the bars and his breathing then hitched. A masked figure bathed in red was standing in front of him._

" _ **Run…now,"**_

 **XXXXXXX**

Knuckles whipped his lip as he stood protectively in front of Sonic, glaring at Noise's minions with scratches all over his body. He glanced back to his companion who was still struggling violently in his sleep. He considered carrying the hedgehog on his back and getting away from here, but he knew that wouldn't work, especially with Noise around.

 _Come on, Sonic. Wake up!_ A robot lunged at him. He jumped onto its shoulder and slammed his fist on top of its head. He then hopped off while the robot staggered with sparks shooting out the newly punctured hole in its head. More robots stepped in.

"You can keep breaking them, but I've got plenty more. We can do this all day!" Noise called lazily from his spot above.

Knuckles opened his mouth to snap at him only to stop when a robot nearby suddenly exploded. He looked over in surprise to see another blow up and then another. He only caught glimpse of a dark blur passing between them before an entire row was eliminated.

A figure suddenly landed in front them, swaying briefly. His fur was pitch black with dark particles coming out of it. A deep growl escaped his gritted teeth.

"What?" Noise muttered with a raised brow.

"Sonic?" Knuckles said, taking a step back.

Cold, pale eyes glared back at him.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Dark Sonic has finally made an appearance. There has a lot leading up to this moment, with Sonic's time in Eggman's prison and being separated from Tails again.**

 **Anyway, this chapter turned out much longer than I expected and the next one will probably be just as long. The end of this story is not far now. I would say there are three chapters left.**


	11. The Hole in Everything

**Chapter 11 – The Hole in Everything**

 **A/N: Hey everyone, things have been pretty hectic lately, but I'm managing just fine. I hope you enjoy this new chapter.**

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

Sonic panted as robots all around him exploded. He glared up at the two, his vision dancing with power. Knuckles had a horrified look on his face while Noise was eyeing him with mild interest.

"Hmm, looks like you have more tricks up your sleeve. Interesting," Noise murmured with his hand on his chin.

"Shut up!" Knuckles snapped before to the hedgehog, his brows furrowing. "Sonic, come on. You….you gotta snap out of this!"

Sonic the hedgehog ignored him. White burning anger coursed through his body. He was blind to everything but the villain floating in front of them. Letting out almost a feral growl, he charged at him faster than before, a black flicker in the light. Noise glitched out of the way and went above him. Four robots lunged at him from all directions, weapons raised. Sonic released a burst of force and obliterated them. **"Pieces of junk,"** he muttered coldly.

Feeling a red light fall over his head, he looked up to see Noise charging a dark sphere and aiming down at him. He leapt back to avoid it, watching it explode right where he had been standing. He didn't even wait a moment to recover, launching himself at Noise and throwing a punch. He blocked the hit with his hands, but the force behind it was enough to create ripples in the air and knock Noise straight into a tree, leaving a hole in the bark.

"Heh, not bad at all. That was actually the first time someone managed to land a hit on me. Paint me impressed, hedgehog," Noise remarked, watching the dark Mobian land on the ground, glaring at him. The white villain began charging energy in his hands. "Guess it's time I show _you_ more of my own pow-"

Noise stiffened when his red eyes glowed faintly all of a sudden. A confused and startled look fell over his face as he looked at something in the distance, his interest in the two fading instantly.

" **Hey, don't ignore me!"** Sonic snarled, jumping at him again only for to knocked back down by a pulse of energy from Noise.

"Sorry, pal, but I have somewhere to be right now. See you later!" With that said, Noise blasted away while the rest of the robot army surrounded Sonic.

The hedgehog snarled and tore through them like they were nothing. A big one began firing at him with its rifle. Sonic dodged the barrage and leapt into the air, stomping down and crushing the robot's arm. Without wasting a second, he jumped and kicked its head clean off its shoulders while the body collapsed on the ground. Sonic turned, intending on going after Noise when Knuckles cut him off. "Hold on! You're not going anywhere!"

" **Get out of my way!"** Sonic roared.

"Sonic, you need to calm down," his expression then became concerned. "You know what will happen if you stay like this for too long,"

Sonic narrowed his eyes and tried to crush him under his heel.

Knuckles scowled and got into a fighting stance. "Alright, listen up, Sonic the Hedgehog. You may be our team leader, but I won't hesitate to take you down if it meant knocking some sense into you!"

But the dark Mobian was clearly not planning on backing down. Knuckles gritted his teeth. "So you're gonna be like this, huh? Fine, come at me then!"

Without hesitation, Sonic lunged and threw a punch at the echidna. Knuckles, already familiar enough was Sonic's speed, bent down just in time and punched him in the chest, knocking him back.

Sonic recovered quickly and attacked again, swinging his leg at him. Knuckles tried blocking the blow, but he hadn't been expecting the amount of the raw strength behind it. He felt the power shake his body before sending him tumbling away. Gasping in pain, he forced himself to stand up. He tried raising his right arm only to realize he couldn't. It was far too injured to move, falling limp by his side. _No!_

" **What's the matter, Knucklehead? Can't fight anymore?"** Sonic taunted.

Knuckles felt a sting in his chest at the nickname and glared on. "Yes, yes I am!" he gritted out stubbornly.

Sonic took that as his invitation and charged at the echidna once more while Knuckles could barely find the strength to move aside, his mind reeling with panic.

Suddenly, a wall of fire burst between the two, cutting Sonic off. Knuckles meanwhile stared baffled as the flames rose higher when the hedgehog tried stepping closer to him. The next thing he knew he was being grabbed by the hand and pulled away. A familiar female face greeted him.

"Y-you?!" Knuckles sputtered.

Blaze the Cat ignored him and stared ahead. "Hurry up!"

The two quickly rushed deeper into the forest, but Sonic made no attempt to follow them. They weren't his target after all. He turned and disappeared through the trees.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

Knuckles panted as he was guided over to sit behind a tree near a river. He nearly cried out at the pain shooting in his arm, but he forced his mouth shut.

"How are you feeling?" Blaze asked.

"Not too bad," he lied through his teeth, his pride not wanting her to know how much pain he was in. He grunted. "You didn't have to intervene. I was doing fine on my own,"

"Clearly," she replied, rolling her eyes. Before Knuckles could protest, she took out a dark blue Sol Emerald, much to the echidna's surprised. She began whispering something into it, and in return, it emitted a soft glow.

Knuckles hissed when a hot pain spread through his limps for a moment before a soothing feeling washed over him, like dipping into a cool bath. Once the emerald stopped glowing, Knuckles blinked. The pain was gone. He looked up to see the cat looking down at him with an almost smug look.

"Fine, thanks," he said reluctantly.

She nodded back.

"Now, are you going to explain what are you doing here? I thought you went back to your dimension a while ago," Knuckles asked, stretching up.

The princess' expression grew grim. "It was the Sol Emeralds that brought me here. They've been sensing a mysterious disturbance in your dimension for quite some time and it only got worse recently. Whatever it is that's causing this, I was sent to deal with it,"

Knuckles' brows shot up. What could be so terrible that the emeralds would send someone from _another dimension_ to fix it?

"But anyway, who was that you were fighting? I have never sensed such dark force before. He might be the thing I am supposed to stop," She asked seriously.

" _That_ …was Sonic," he answered awkwardly. The cat jerked back in shock.

"What?! Be serious! Now is not the time for jest!"

"Yeah, because I'm well known for my hilarious jokes," he replied back sarcastically.

"But how could-"

"Look, I don't think he's the threat the emeralds are sensing. He only became like that minutes ago," he said and raised his hand before she could bombard him with anymore questions. "How about we keep the questions for later? We need to catch him before he could get any further,"

The cat sighed in frustration, but nodded.

 _I can't lose them both_. He refrained from adding, his face falling briefly before putting on a stoic look again.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

For the past half an hour, Infinite had tried everything he could to escape his binds, but struggling didn't seem to be getting him anywhere. He could only sit there in the dim room while the two humans murmured to each other. From what he managed to overhear, it was mostly about the other Phantom Ruby user, the reason he was here. He didn't understand how connecting him to this machine would help, but he already knew that nobody was going to explain _anything_ -

The computer suddenly emitted a _horrible_ sound that filled the room. The woman sitting there ripped her headphones off and backed away in fright. While the two humans were freaking out, Infinite was trying to get a better look at what was happening when a phantom cube appeared in front of him.

Infinite would have reeled back if he could _. Wait…did I do this?_ For a moment he perked up, thinking he finally tapped into his powers again only to gasp when it glowed ominously and the insides of the truck faded away.

When the light disappeared, he found himself somewhere in a forest. Before he could question how he got here, a new voice reached his ears. One he never heard before.

"Well, well, I can't believe I got to meet the infamous Infinite at last!" He glanced back to see a white furred Mobian standing behind him, his tail moving around in a pleased manner while his eyes scanned him excitedly. "I'm Noise. Pleasure to meet you, kid,"

Infinite felt affronted and stood up straight. "What? I'm _clearly_ older than you!"

The stranger flicked his tongue and shook his head. "So petty, but I like it," he added with lopsided grin.

 _This guy is insane_. Despite trying to maintain his anger at the weird stranger, the jackal was actually feeling beyond uneasy. He didn't what it was or what caused it, but the mere sight of this guy made the hairs on his back stand on end. All of his instincts were screaming at him to get away from here as fast as possible.

Noise was about to speak again when something burst from the trees and landed in front of them. The dark hedgehog was panting while glaring holes into them. Infinite had no idea who that was, but the aura of power surrounding him was enough to leave him breathless. His mind came to a screeching halt when he noticed the familiar red and white shoes. "Wait…. _Sonic?!_ "

" **You!"** Sonic growled back, his dark aura somehow growing stronger at the sight of Infinite. The jackal meanwhile could barely think. He had never seen the hero like this before. What happened? **"I'm going to tear you both into shreds!"**

Sonic suddenly vanished.

Noise quickly stood before Infinite and formed a barrier. In that exact second, a dark spinning sphere slammed against it with a terrifying force that shook the air. _When did that idiot get so strong?_ Infinite thought, stunned.

Noise huffed. "We're never going to get anything sorted out this way. Wait here," he waved his hand and Infinite found himself inside a glowing bubble. Noise's eyes then went black as he turned to face Sonic. In a flash, the two attacked each other, exchanging blows without stopping and tearing through the clearing. The brute power behind their attacks was enough to send anything lightweight on the ground flying without even touching it.

Infinite watched Sonic strike at Noise again, but in that moment, the world glitched. Noise's form melted away and a see-through silhouette appeared out of it. Before he could react, it kicked him in the chin, sending him flying upward where two phantom clones appeared and kicked him at the same time in the stomach.

He was falling down toward the ground fast, but Noise was not done with him. He appeared right below him and the second Sonic was lined up with him in the air, he drew his hand back and charged it with dark energy, punching the hedgehog directly in the abdomen. The force knocked the wind out of him and he went flying several feet away. Sonic lay there, struggling to get back up before the dark aura slowly faded and a battered and bruised hedgehog was all that was left.

Noise was panting and grinning at the same time. "That was… _good_. I knew there was more to you than what you let on," he then gave a brief glance to the jackal behind. "Now, back to business,"

Summoning a cube in his hands, Noise concentrated and the world around them began melting into a dark, warped space. It was a familiar place to Infinite, one he only got a few glimpses of, but never stepped into.

"Hello, Infinite. Welcome to the Void," Right in front of Infinite stood Noise with a grin so sharp it could cut the jackal in half. "Such a wonderful place, wouldn't you agree? Not as fun as your world though,"

Infinite gritted his teeth and tried to move his limps, but his hands and feet were bound by weird glowing cuffs. "Let me out of this!"

Noise shook his finger at him. "I can't do that. We won't get to talk then,"

The jackal took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts. A lot didn't make sense to him at the moment, but there was one thing he did understand in all of this. "So you're the maniac the government is after now? Fit the bill by the looks of it," he jabbed at Noise who scowled. "Don't get cocky though. You really think you can waltz in and take what's mine. I earned that power and I'll be taking it back as soon as I'm out of this!"

Noise's anger faded and he smirked. "Heh, straight to the point, aren't we? But then again, you were always like that. Fighting first and thinking later,"

"Shut up! As if you know anything about me!" the jackal snarled, but that for some reason got a laugh out of Noise, one that sent a chill down his spine.

Noise stepped closer. "Infinite, or should I say… _Zero_ , I know **everything** about you,"

Infinite stiffened at the mention of his real name, but the villain didn't stop there. "You were once a leader of a group of mercenaries in the desert only for your dear team to abandon you in the face of that hedgehog, Shadow. You worked for Dr. Eggman and then later on became the subject of his _Phantom_ project. You conquered the world with your given powers and then lost everything to Sonic and his friends. I know all of it. How lost and alone you felt while being hunted, your innermost thoughts, your secrets, everything,"

By now Infinite's blood had frozen. His fur stood on end and his lungs screamed for air because he forgot to breathe moments ago. How…How does know all of this? So many questions stormed in his mind, but when he finally found his voice, he could only mutter one. "Who…who are you, really?"

Noise's grin somehow grew wider. "You may not know this, but you and I have actually worked together before. This is the first time we meet in person though. It's funny how the first thing you say to me was to give you back what is yours, but is it really?" he cocked his head to the side. "That stupid doctor spent so long researching and harnessing power from the phantom stone without even knowing what he was really messing with,"

"W-what?" Infinite stammered.

"This demon was born from that same power," he said, pointing himself with a smile. "I may have not had a physical form back then, but I was still aware of some things. I spent centuries trapped in that prison, with the world far beyond my reach, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'm free now and _nothing can stop me from doing what I want!_ " he grinned, his teeth growing sharper. The Void flickered back at his words.

He then walked over to Infinite and smiled. "I know you've been feeling pretty worthless ever since you lost your powers, partner-"

"Hey, I'm not-"

"But you shouldn't be feeling like that at all…" he leaned closer and whispered. "Don't tell this to anyone, but you're actually my big surprise for the world,"

Infinite blinked in surprise. "Me?"

"Yes, that pulse in your chest….did you really think it didn't mean anything?" Noise asked, tapping the scar on the mercenary's chest.

Infinite's mind reeled as he recalled the chronic pains, the visions and the white figure in them. "W-what are you planning to do?"

"Oh, you'll find it really soon, but until then, don't disappoint me, partner!" he cackled and the Void disappeared along with Noise. This time Infinite was dropped off into another part of the forest.

Infinite remained on the ground for what felt like forever before silently reaching for his chest. It throbbed with pain.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Back outside the forest, Captain Winter was staring at the multiple screens inside one of the vans. "We found him, sir. He's in our radars now," one of the soldiers said.

Winter scowled darkly. "Finally, prepare the Alpha Cannon. That freak won't have anywhere to run this time,"

"B-but sir, the blast will cover a radius of 500 meters! We still have people in there, including agent Shadow and his team," the solider stammered.

The captain gritted his teeth in frustration. "Then send them a call to fall back without alerting the enemy!"

The solider nodded and did as he was told.

Meanwhile, Silver was still trying to force the mecha back with all his strength, but there didn't seem to be any way for them to take it down. Its body was too heavy for him to lift and the armor was just unbreakable. He glanced down to see if Shadow had better luck only to find him staring at the walkie-talkie with a confused, but also frustrated look on his face.

In that moment of distraction, his control wavered and the robot broke loose. "Shadow!" The white hedgehog exclaimed as it brought its saw down at the Mobian below. Shadow quickly teleported out of the way and fired a barrage of chaos spears at its arm, but they didn't even leave a dent on its armor. _How is this thing so tough?_

Silver's eyes scanned its body once more and then caught something. The areas of the joints weren't protected. "That's it!" Charging up his energy, he slashed at the air and cut the robot's arm with a psychic blade, but he didn't stop there. He got a hold of the fallen arm with his telekinesis and slammed it with all his might against the robot's neck. Sparks erupted and smoke rose from the open gash. The robot's head exploded and its body collapsed on the ground, the impact creating a massive shook wave that knocked Shadow off his feet.

Silver expelled a sigh of relief at the defeated robot and then went down to check on the other hedgehog.

"You alright?" Silver asked, hovering next to him.

"Yeah," he stared briefly at the mecha and then turned away. "Now let's go find Noise,"

"What?! You can't seriously think you can take him on like this! You're hurt!" Silver stammered, pointing at the wound on Shadow's side among the other injuries he sustained. "We need to head back and get you treated immediately!"

"This is nothing," he said stubbornly. "I'm not going back after all of this. Feel free to run back if you wish, but I'm getting this mission done!"

Silver scowled. "Are you crazy?! You…."

He trailed off when a tremor sounded somewhere in the forest and something in the air around them suddenly shifted.

Shadow turned to see a wave of light charging toward them rapidly, consuming everything in its way. Shadow absently tightened his grip on the emerald, ready to get them out of there when he realized with sinking horror that he ran out of power to do that.

In that split second, Silver jumped in and formed a barrier in front of them just as the light consumed them both.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

"… _onic?...Sonic!"_

Moaning tiredly, the hedgehog cracked his open to see Knuckles and Blaze looking down at him, the latter was putting something away.

He groaned and reached for his head, the memory of overwhelming pain clear in his mind. "Wha…what happened?"

Knuckles bit his lip. "I…would rather get you out of here first," he said, but there was a subtle hint of relief in his voice.

Sonic then turned to the other Mobian and raised a brow. "Blaze?"

"It's good to meet you again, Sonic, but I wish it was on better circumstances," the cat said, arms crossed.

Knuckles helped Sonic up and put the hedgehog's arm over his shoulder to support him. "Let's get out of here,"

The walkie-talkie suddenly buzzed to life and knuckles took it out with his other hand. "Hello?"

"Evlwpo….gET…wskfe…wrkt, ackba,"

"What? I can't hear!" Knuckles growled, shaking the device slightly.

"Oh, don't bother. It won't work," The three turned to see Noise watching them with a long smile, but the malicious glint in his eyes was present as always. "Not when I'm around,"

Noise's eyes flashed red and an ear-piercing, electronic screech came out of the walkie-talkie, startling the three and causing Knuckles to toss it just to make it stop. The sound died just as it hit the ground.

"You little punk!" Knuckles growled, wincing.

"So you're the one doing that!" Sonic accused, recalling the same thing happening in the city as well with Tails' phone.

"Yup, and I'm proud of it," Noise replied, as if they were just joking around.

Sonic scowled. This maniac never took anything he was doing seriously and he just about had enough of it. "Quit that! Stop treating this as if it's all some sort of game! Just tell us what you're up to already!"

Noise eyed Sonic for a moment as if considering it before sighing and shrugging. "Alright, since I have the final piece of my plan secured now, I see no reason for secrets anymore," he placed his hands behind his back and grinned. "To be honest, my original goal was to be part of your reality. I was fine with causing as much havoc as possible at first and it was fun for a while, but then I found myself wanting more than that. I want to take over,"

"How original," Sonic spat.

Noise cackled. "No, no. I don't just mean this silly, little world of yours. I mean… _everything_. Every world…every machine… every mind!"

As if responding to his words, their surroundings flickered.

Noise's grin grew feral. "My chaos will be all there is. It will be the only thing that makes sense,"

Sonic was at a loss of words and neither his two friends spoke. He swallowed. "T-that's…you're out of your mind,"

"Yeah, as if we're gonna let you do that!" Knuckles joined in.

"Well, it's too late for you guys to do anything. You'll see that tonight, if you live until then,"

"You wanna fight again?" the echidna asked, clutching a fist at him. Noise shook his head and smirked knowingly.

He leaned in and whispered. "By the way, that call you got was kind of important," was all he said before vanishing, leaving the group confused.

"What did he mean?" Blaze asked. Sonic opened his mouth to respond when a new sound reached his ears. Something was falling from above.

Acting on pure instinct, Sonic blindly reached for their hands and dashed as fast he could just as the projectile hit the ground and the forest erupted into light.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. Sorry for the all cliffhangers, but we're very much close to the end now.**


End file.
